National Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies, Anaemia, Genetic Blood Disorders and Over- and Undernutrition in Omani Women of Reproductive Age and Preschool Children

A national cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of anaemia, micronutrient deficiencies, haemoglobin disorders and over- and undernutrition in children and women of reproductive age in Oman. Wasting and stunting were found in 9.3% and 11.4% of children aged 0–59 months, respectively, while 4.2% were overweight or obese. In addition, 23.8% were anaemic and 10.2%, 9.5% and 10.6% had iron, vitamin A and vitamin D deficiencies, respectively. Sickle cell and β-thalassaemia genetic traits were present in 5.3% and 4.2% of children and 4.7% and 2.8% of women, respectively. Overall, 9.1% of Omani women were underweight and 59.2% were overweight or obese. The prevalence of anaemia was 27.8%, while iron, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficiencies affected 24.8%, 11.6%, 8.9% and 16.2%, respectively. Anaemia among both children and women and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women are the most concerning nutritional problems in Oman.Keywords: Nutrition Disorders; Malnutrition; Micronutrients; Iron-Deficiency Anemia; Avitaminosis; Vitamin D Deficiency; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency; Oman

Recent trends in wind speed across Saudi Arabia, 1978–2013: a break in the stilling

We analyse recent trends and variability of observed near-surface wind speed from 19 stations across Saudi Arabia (SA) for 1978–2013. The raw wind speed data set was subject to a robust homogenization protocol, and the stations were then classified under three categories: (1) coast, (2) inland and (3) mountain stations. The results reveal a statistically significant ( p < 0.05) reduction of wind speed of − 0.058 m s − 1 dec − 1 at annual scale across SA, with decreases in winter ( − 0.100 m s − 1 dec − 1 ) and spring ( − 0.066 m s − 1 dec − 1 ) also detected, being non-significant in summer and autumn. The coast, inland and mountain series showed similar magnitude and significance of the declining trends across all SA series, except for summer when a decoupled variability and opposite trends of wind speed between the coast and inland series (significant declines: − 0.101 m s − 1 dec − 1 and − 0.065 m s − 1 dec − 1 , respectively) and the high-elevation mountain series (significant increase: + 0.041 m s − 1 dec − 1 ) were observed. Even though wind speed declines dominated across much of the country throughout the year, only a small number of stations showed statistically significant negative trends in summer and autumn. Most interestingly, a break in the stilling was observed in the last 12-year (2002–2013) period ( + 0.057 m s − 1 dec − 1 ; not significant) compared to the significant slowdown detected in the previous 24-year (1978–2001) period ( − 0.089 m s − 1 dec − 1 ). This break in the slowdown of winds, even followed by a non-significant recovery trend, occurred in all seasons (and months) except for some winter months. Atmospheric circulation plays a key role in explaining the variability of winds, with the North Atlantic Oscillation positively affecting the annual wind speed, the Southern Oscillation displaying a significant negative relationship with winds in winter, spring and autumn, and the Eastern Atlantic negatively modulating winds in summer.C. A-M. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 703733 (STILLING project). This research was supported by the research projects: Swedish BECC, MERGE, VR (2014-5320)