Talk:Obesity in the Middle East and North Africa

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A fact from Obesity in the Middle East and North Africa appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 November 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that 30% of the population in the Arab world is classified as overweight or obese, including 80% of adult women in Kuwait?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2010/November.

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Initial comment[edit]

I chose the term "Middle East and North Africa" because it includes all of the countries I mentioned in my article. "Arab World" would not have worked since Iran is not included in that term. "Muslim World" would not have worked either, as that encompasses Ghana, Indonesia, and Pakistan, among many others. Cannondale0702 (talk) 02:40, 28 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Since the article does not include Israel (which is clearly part of the region, and almost certainly has data on overweight and obesity), the title may be misleading. At T:TDYK I have suggested Obesity in Islamic areas of the Middle East and North Africa as a new name. Is that a valid description of the scope? --Orlady (talk) 03:20, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you are correct - Israel and probably Turkey should be included. I intend to add those two countries this weekend. Your title is problematic because there are Christians in the Middle East, including places like Lebanon. That title would exclude those communities. Thank you for your feedback! Cannondale0702 (talk) 06:48, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Glad to hear that you are expanding the article scope. It sounds like the geographic title will be well-supported. --Orlady (talk) 22:02, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

History[edit]

The article covers no farther back than 30 years, but of course obesity has a very long history in the region, stretching back at least to Ancient Egypt. So that's an area where some expansion could be done. - Biruitorul ^Talk 19:20, 7 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestions[edit]

Great article! It is incredibly comprehensive - lots of interesting data packed in. I think it's good to group the countries by geography within the MENA region as a whole - it helps highlight some of the variations and trends. I think the cultural notes in some of the country profiles are particularly interesting (such as the Sahrawi pre-wedding custom you mention) and really help highlight the cultural reasons behind obesity in this particular context.

Suggestions: You may want to expand the introduction a bit, since the article is so long (this was a suggestion I got about my own Wiki page). The intro could include a bit more explanation of the trends you describe later (for example, you have great explanations about why urbanization in certain places leads to higher obesity rates, and it'd be nice to have that type of explanation up front as a discussion of general trends).

In terms of usage in general you use "amongst" which is more common in British usage - you may want to switch to "among," but not a big deal.

I think the most interesting aspect of this subject is cultural information that illuminates what makes the issue different in the MENA region than elsewhere, but this could be expanded. One way to do this might be to emphasize the social changes brought about by recent oil wealth and their effects on lifestyles, or explain how gender dynamics in the Arab world might have particular impacts on the issue of obesity. Amg0709 (talk) 22:37, 17 November 2010 (UTC)amg0709[reply]

Also, forgot to mention, but you might want to check out Demographic & Health Surveys for some good information by country on various public health measures: http://www.measuredhs.com/ Amg0709 (talk) 22:43, 17 November 2010 (UTC)amg0709[reply]

Just list countries[edit]

Rather than listing subregions and countries may be just list countries and remove a level of headings. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:00, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good idea. ~~Turkey still remains problematic. Does it really belong in this article when it's not located in MENA. That and~~ a few mistakes (Jordania listed under Persian Gulf instead of Levant, Egypt in Levant instead of NA) in previous geographical categorization prompted me to revise the table a few days ago. --Ras (talk) 04:40, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Obesity in Gaza???[edit]

please neutral sources, not just an op-ed in a rightish israeli newspaper...

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Pocket World in Figures: Highest Obesity. The Economist, [online]. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/8846631 [Accessed 08/10/2014].

This ranking, from the 2007 edition of The Economist's “Pocket World in Figures” shows that, at the time of writing, the percentage of obesity in men in the West Bank and Gaza was 23,9%, which was ranked as the 8th highest obesity rate in the world for men, and similarly the percentage of obesity in women in the West Bank and Gaza was 42,5%, which was ranked as the 3rd highest obesity rate in the world for women.

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El Kishawi, R. R. et al (2014) 'Obesity and overweight: prevalence and associated socio demographic factors among mothers in three different areas in the Gaza Strip-Palestine: a cross-sectional study', BMC Obesity, 1 (7), 1-7.

This journal article has the following conclusion: "The results showed that obesity and being overweight are highly prevalent among women in the Gaza Strip. Independent predictors of obesity in the population studied were increasing age, high income, and housewives. This finding is an important baseline for the monitoring of obesity and overweight cases in the future and highlights the need for community-based programs to combat this problem in Palestine."

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Abdeen, Z. et al (2012) 'Overweight and Obesity among Palestinian Adults: Analyses of the Anthropometric Data from the First National Health and Nutrition Survey (1999-2000)', Journal of Obesity, 12, 1-12.

This journal article notes the following, in its abstract: "The prevalence of overweight was 35.5% in women and 40.3% in men, obesity was 31.5% in women and 17.5% in men. Adults aged 45–54 years old were significantly more likely to be obese (29.2% in men and 50.2% in women) or overweight (48.1% in men and 37.2% in women)."

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Surely, these sources are both more trustworthy and neutral, considering that they consist of a published book by a well-renowned news magazine, and two peer reviewed journal articles that have been published in two most relevant journals. You can find both articles online, if you'd like.

Moreover, if anyone is curious, the 2015 version of The Economist's Pocket World in Figures has already been published, and can be freely consulted as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.215.230.170 (talk) 09:34, 8 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Kuwait[edit]

Under the sub-heading for Kuwait, it says "from 1980 to 1993, the percentage of individuals age 18–29 that were overweight rose from 30.6% to 54.4% and the percentage of those who were overweight increased from 12.8% to 24.6%." Is it meant to say "from 1980 to 1993, the percentage of individuals age 18–29 that were overweight rose from 30.6% to 54.4% and the percentage of those who were obese increased from 12.8% to 24.6%"? Zinedine Socrates (talk) 12:52, 16 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]