Review Article
Overweight and Obesity in Eastern Mediterranean Region: Prevalence and Possible Causes
Table 2
National prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children and adolescents in selected EMR countries.
| Country | Date of survey | Sample size | Sex | Age (year) | Definition | Overweight % | Obesity % | References |
| Bahrain | 2006 | 336 396 | M F | 15–18 15–18 | BMI/age ≥ 85P–<95P/≥95P (NHANES-1) | 15.8 17.4 | 13.7 19.4 | [23] |
| Egypt | 2004 | 2969 | M | 10–18 | BMI/age NCHS/CDC | 11.5 | 6.5 |
[24] | 3049 | F | 10–18 | 15.2 | 7.7 |
| Iran | 2003-2004 | 10.253 | M | 6–18 | IOTF | 5.4 | 1.6 |
[25] | 10.858 | F | 6–18 | 5.9 | 1.3 |
| Kuwait | 2006 | 2657 | M | 10–14 | IOTF | 29.3 | 14.9 |
[26] | 2745 | F | 10–14 | 32.1 | 14.2 | 2001–2005 | 1630 | M | 14–19 | IOTF | 18.8 | 24.8 |
[16] | 1611 | F | 14–19 | 25.3 | 20.0 |
| Lebanon | 1995-96 | 257 | M | 10–19 | BMI/age (NHANES-1) | 26.9 | 7.7 |
[27] | 336 | F | 10–19 | 14.7 | 2.9 |
| Qatar | 2003-2004 | 1056 | M | 6–9 | IOTF | 16.3 | 3.5 |
[28] | 2690 | M | 10–18 | 27.5 | 7.1 | 1084 | F | 6–9 | 15.5 | 2.8 | 2612 | F | 10–18 | 20.0 | 3.9 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2005 | 6149 | M | 5–12 | BMI/age > 1SD/>2SD (WHO) | 19.9 | 7.8 |
[29] | 5917 | F | 5–12 | 19.2 | 11.0 | 3659 | M | 13–18 | 24.8 | 13.8 | 3592 | F | 13–18 | 28.4 | 12.1 |
| Tunisia | 2005 | 1295 | M | 15–19 | IOTF | 17.4 | 4.1 |
[30] | 1577 | F | 15–19 | 20.4 | 4.4 |
| UAE | 2005 | 7741 | M | 10–19 | IOTF | 21.2 | 13.2 |
[31] | 7888 | F | 10–19 | 21.7 | 11.0 |
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