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Review
. 2022 Mar 16:9:817808.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.817808. eCollection 2022.

Unhealthy Dietary Habits and Obesity: The Major Risk Factors Beyond Non-Communicable Diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh  1 , Marwa M S Abbass  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Unhealthy Dietary Habits and Obesity: The Major Risk Factors Beyond Non-Communicable Diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

There are 22 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) expanding from Morocco in the west to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east, containing a population of 725,721 million in 2020. In the previous 30 years, the illness burden in the EMR has transmitted from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In 2019, cardiovascular mortality in the EMR was mostly attributed to ischemic heart disease, the first reason for mortality in 19 countries in the region. Stroke was the second reason for death in nine countries followed by diabetes, which was ranked as the second reason for death in two countries. The prominent nutrition-related NCDs risk factors in EMR include obesity, hypertension, high fasting plasma glucose, and upregulated unhealthy diet consumption. Most of the EMR population are unaware of their NCDs risk factor status. These risk factors, even if treated, are often poorly controlled, therefore, inhibiting their existence by changing the lifestyle to proper dietary habits and sufficient physical activity is mandatory. In this review, the epidemiology and nutrition-related risk factors of NCDs in the EMR will be discussed and illustrated, aiming to scale up action and support decision-makers in implementing cost effective strategies to address obesity and NCDs prevention and management in the region.

Keywords: EMR; NCDs; obesity; risk factors; unhealthy diet.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The interdisciplinary relationship between unhealthy diet consumption, obesity, and other NCDs risk factors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diabetes prevalence among adults in different regions (6).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overweight and obesity prevalence among adults in different regions (6).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlation between the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cumulative cancer risk among adults in EMR (6, 26).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation between the prevalence of obesity, probability of death due to CVDs, cancers, and diabetes among adults in EMR (6).
Figure 6
Figure 6
High blood pressure prevalence among adults in different regions (6).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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