Secular trends and risk factors of overweight and obesity among Kuwaiti adults: National Nutrition Surveillance System data from 1998 to 2009

Abstract

Objective: To determine trends in prevalence of overweight and obesity in Kuwaiti adults, and to examine their association with selected sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Design: Analysis of cross-sectional population survey data from the Kuwait National Nutrition Surveillance System. Setting: Social and health facilities in Kuwait. Logistic and linear regression analyses confirmed these temporal changes for both prevalence and BMI in both genders. The odds of obesity increased with age until the fifth decade for both genders and then declined significantly for males. Education level was negatively associated with obesity prevalence in females, while participation in leisure-time exercise was negatively associated with obesity prevalence in males. Conclusions: Although the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI $ 25 kg/m 2 ) seemed to decrease from 2005 to 2009 among Kuwaiti adults, further research to clarify the identified confounders and continued monitoring are needed to confirm the decrease observed.

Excesso de peso, obesidade abdominal e fatores associados em servidores de uma Universidade Federal Brasileira

“…Among the women, the proportion of excess weight and abdominal obesity increased from 40-49 years through 60-69 years, according to all three indicators analyzed. The increase in prevalence rates of excess weight and abdominal obesity as age increases is well-documented in the literature and has been observed in several Brazilian cities as well as in international studies 3,12,13,22,25 . For men, the probability of excess weight did not increase through all age groups, but dropped off in the 50-59 age group and then increased once more in the 60-69 group.…”

“…In Puerto Rico the proportions of men and women with excess weight were 78.4% and 79.3% 21 , in Kuwait they were 77.3% and 77.4% 22 and in the United States 72.3% of men and 64.1% of women had excess weight 23 . Prevalence rates of abdominal obesity diagnosed by WC were 37.6% and 54.4% in Puerto Rico 21 , 36.2% and 79.9% in Iran and 57.0% and 56.6% in Australia 24 , for men and women, respectively.…”

“…These data are similar to what has been observed in metropolitan Belém, PA, Brazil 25 , by the national VIGITEL survey 3 and in the United States 23 , where men also had a higher prevalence rate of excess weight than women. When sexes are compared for overweight and obesity according to BMI, studies report higher prevalence rates of overweight among men 3,21,22 and of obesity among women 21,22 . Notwithstanding, irrespective of the categorization employed, many studies have failed to identify differences between the sexes in terms of the prevalence rates of overweight, obesity or excess weight, when identified using BMI 3,11,12 .…”

“…This result is in contrast with the findings of a study in the city of Florianópolis, SC, Brazil, which found lower prevalence of abdominal obesity according to WHtR among women with higher educational levels 13 . Other studies have also found an increased probability of overweight, obesity 6,22 and abdominal obesity according to WC 28,29 , among women with lower educational levels. As can be seen in the literature, it is generally expected that prevalence rates of excess weight and abdominal obesity will be lower among people with higher levels of education, on the basis that it is assumed that they know more about the importance of healthy habits 30 .…”

Review of the nutrition situation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

“…Available data suggest an increasing secular trend in the prevalence of adult obesity in most countries of the Region. This trend was more pronounced in countries such as the UAE (88,89), Tunisia (90,91), Afghanistan (44), Kuwait (92), Bahrain (78,93) and Lebanon (93).…”