Prevalence of overweight and obesity in United Arab Emirates Expatriates: the UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle Study

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Abstract

Objective

To describe current prevalence of obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Methods

We used data from the cross-sectional UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle Study (UAEDIAB), which surveyed adult expatriates living in the UAE for at least 4 years. We report crude prevalence of overweight and obesity, indicated by gender and ethnicity-specific body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) cut-offs, by lifestyle and biomedical characteristics, as well as age and sex-adjusted odds ratios.

Results

Out of a total of 3064 recruited expatriates (response rate 68%), 2724 had completed all stages of the UAEDIAB study. Expatriates were; 81% men, mean age 38 years (range 18–80), 71% South East Asians, and 36% university graduates. In this sample, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, by BMI, were 43.0 and 32.3%, respectively. 52.4 and 56.5% of participants were at a substantially increased risk according to WC and WHR, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were 15.5, 31.8, and 51.7%, respectively, with the prevalence of each being higher in those with obesity.

Conclusion

Prevalence of obesity and associated NCDs are extremely high in UAE expatriates. Without comprehensive prevention and management, levels of disease will continue to increase and productivity will fall.

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Most cited references 13

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Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Marie Ng, Tom Fleming, Margaret W. Robinson … (2015)

In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3·4 million deaths, 3·9% of years of life lost, and 3·8% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) worldwide. The rise in obesity has led to widespread calls for regular monitoring of changes in overweight and obesity prevalence in all populations. Comparable, up-to-date information about levels and trends is essential to quantify population health effects and to prompt decision makers to prioritise action. We estimate the global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013. We systematically identified surveys, reports, and published studies (n=1769) that included data for height and weight, both through physical measurements and self-reports. We used mixed effects linear regression to correct for bias in self-reports. We obtained data for prevalence of obesity and overweight by age, sex, country, and year (n=19,244) with a spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression model to estimate prevalence with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). Worldwide, the proportion of adults with a body-mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m(2) or greater increased between 1980 and 2013 from 28·8% (95% UI 28·4-29·3) to 36·9% (36·3-37·4) in men, and from 29·8% (29·3-30·2) to 38·0% (37·5-38·5) in women. Prevalence has increased substantially in children and adolescents in developed countries; 23·8% (22·9-24·7) of boys and 22·6% (21·7-23·6) of girls were overweight or obese in 2013. The prevalence of overweight and obesity has also increased in children and adolescents in developing countries, from 8·1% (7·7-8·6) to 12·9% (12·3-13·5) in 2013 for boys and from 8·4% (8·1-8·8) to 13·4% (13·0-13·9) in girls. In adults, estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa. Since 2006, the increase in adult obesity in developed countries has slowed down. Because of the established health risks and substantial increases in prevalence, obesity has become a major global health challenge. Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. Urgent global action and leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: a pooled analysis of 1698 population-based measurement studies with 19·2 million participants

Emily Sonestedt, Kim Overvad (2016)

Summary Background Underweight and severe and morbid obesity are associated with highly elevated risks of adverse health outcomes. We estimated trends in mean body-mass index (BMI), which characterises its population distribution, and in the prevalences of a complete set of BMI categories for adults in all countries. Methods We analysed, with use of a consistent protocol, population-based studies that had measured height and weight in adults aged 18 years and older. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to these data to estimate trends from 1975 to 2014 in mean BMI and in the prevalences of BMI categories (<18·5 kg/m2 [underweight], 18·5 kg/m2 to <20 kg/m2, 20 kg/m2 to <25 kg/m2, 25 kg/m2 to <30 kg/m2, 30 kg/m2 to <35 kg/m2, 35 kg/m2 to <40 kg/m2, ≥40 kg/m2 [morbid obesity]), by sex in 200 countries and territories, organised in 21 regions. We calculated the posterior probability of meeting the target of halting by 2025 the rise in obesity at its 2010 levels, if post-2000 trends continue. Findings We used 1698 population-based data sources, with more than 19·2 million adult participants (9·9 million men and 9·3 million women) in 186 of 200 countries for which estimates were made. Global age-standardised mean BMI increased from 21·7 kg/m2 (95% credible interval 21·3–22·1) in 1975 to 24·2 kg/m2 (24·0–24·4) in 2014 in men, and from 22·1 kg/m2 (21·7–22·5) in 1975 to 24·4 kg/m2 (24·2–24·6) in 2014 in women. Regional mean BMIs in 2014 for men ranged from 21·4 kg/m2 in central Africa and south Asia to 29·2 kg/m2 (28·6–29·8) in Polynesia and Micronesia; for women the range was from 21·8 kg/m2 (21·4–22·3) in south Asia to 32·2 kg/m2 (31·5–32·8) in Polynesia and Micronesia. Over these four decades, age-standardised global prevalence of underweight decreased from 13·8% (10·5–17·4) to 8·8% (7·4–10·3) in men and from 14·6% (11·6–17·9) to 9·7% (8·3–11·1) in women. South Asia had the highest prevalence of underweight in 2014, 23·4% (17·8–29·2) in men and 24·0% (18·9–29·3) in women. Age-standardised prevalence of obesity increased from 3·2% (2·4–4·1) in 1975 to 10·8% (9·7–12·0) in 2014 in men, and from 6·4% (5·1–7·8) to 14·9% (13·6–16·1) in women. 2·3% (2·0–2·7) of the world’s men and 5·0% (4·4–5·6) of women were severely obese (ie, have BMI ≥35 kg/m2). Globally, prevalence of morbid obesity was 0·64% (0·46–0·86) in men and 1·6% (1·3–1·9) in women. Interpretation If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global obesity target is virtually zero. Rather, if these trends continue, by 2025, global obesity prevalence will reach 18% in men and surpass 21% in women; severe obesity will surpass 6% in men and 9% in women. Nonetheless, underweight remains prevalent in the world’s poorest regions, especially in south Asia. Funding Wellcome Trust, Grand Challenges Canada.

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Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic.

J Hill, J Peters (1998)

The current epidemic of obesity is caused largely by an environment that promotes excessive food intake and discourages physical activity. Although humans have evolved excellent physiological mechanisms to defend against body weight loss, they have only weak physiological mechanisms to defend against body weight gain when food is abundant. Control of portion size, consumption of a diet low in fat and energy density, and regular physical activity are behaviors that protect against obesity, but it is becoming difficult to adopt and maintain these behaviors in the current environment. Because obesity is difficult to treat, public health efforts need to be directed toward prevention.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Nabil Sulaiman: nsulaiman@sharjah.ac.ae

Salah Elbadawi: salah_badawi@hotmail.com

Amal Hussein: amalmh@sharjah.ac.ae

Salah Abusnana: salahdeen.abusnana@ghp.se

Abdulrazzag Madani: aaamadani@gmail.com

Maisoon Mairghani: maysoonxyz@hotmail.com

Fatheya Alawadi: ffAlawadi@dha.gov.ae

Ahmad Sulaiman: ansulaiman@yahoo.com

Paul Zimmet: paul.zimmet@monash.edu

Oliver Huse: oliver.huse@deakin.edu.au

Jonathan Shaw: Jonathan.Shaw@bakeridi.edu.au

Anna Peeters: anna.peeters@deakin.edu.au

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Diabetol Metab Syndr

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Diabetol Metab Syndr

Title: Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1758-5996

Publication date (Electronic): 2 November 2017

Publication date PMC-release: 2 November 2017

Publication date Collection: 2017

Volume: 9

Electronic Location Identifier: 88

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000 0004 4686 5317, GRID grid.412789.1, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, , University of Sharjah, ; P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE

[2 ]ISNI 0000 0004 1757 0894, GRID grid.414167.1, Dubai Health Authority, ; Dubai, UAE

[3 ]Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research, Ajman, UAE

[4 ]ISNI 0000 0004 1796 7314, GRID grid.414162.4, Dubai Hospital, ; Dubai, UAE

[5 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0488 7120, GRID grid.4912.e, Royal College of Surgeons, ; Dublin, Ireland

[6 ]ISNI 0000 0004 4902 0432, GRID grid.1005.4, College of Medicine, , University of New South Wales (UNSW), ; Sydney, Australia

[7 ]ISNI 0000 0000 9760 5620, GRID grid.1051.5, Baker/IDI, ; Melbourne, VIC Australia

[8 ]ISNI 0000 0001 0526 7079, GRID grid.1021.2, School of Health and Social Development, , Deakin University, ; Geelong, VIC Australia

Article

Publisher ID: 287

DOI: 10.1186/s13098-017-0287-0

PMC ID: 5667520

PubMed ID: 29118852

SO-VID: 17fbe12a-923a-4b4f-8150-3ca6ef4d6856

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 20 June 2017

Date accepted : 21 October 2017

Funding

Funded by: Sanofi Company

Funded by: Baker IDI

Funded by: Ministry Of Health- UAE

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Nutrition & Dietetics

Keywords: united arab emirates,expatriates,obesity,overweight,prevalence,adults

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Nutrition & Dietetics

Keywords: united arab emirates, expatriates, obesity, overweight, prevalence, adults

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in United Arab Emirates Expatriates: the UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle Study

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Abstract

Objective

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Conclusion

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Emirates Scholar Research Center

Most cited references 13

Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: a pooled analysis of 1698 population-based measurement studies with 19·2 million participants

Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic.

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