Impact Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Smoking (Waterpipe And Cigarette) And Participants\u27 Bmi Across Various Sociodemographic Groups In Arab Countries In The Mediterranean Region

INTRODUCTION Tobacco smokers are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. Lockdown was a chosen strategy to deal with the spread of infectious diseases; nonetheless, it influenced people\u27s eating and smoking behaviors. The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) behavior and its associations with sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index. METHODS The data were derived from a large-scale retrospective cross-sectional study using a validated online international survey from 38 countries (n=37207) conducted between 17 April and 25 June 2020. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMR countries) data related to 10 Arabic countries that participated in this survey have been selected for analysis in this study. A total of 12433 participants were included in the analysis of this study, reporting their smoking behavior and their BMI before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between smoking practices and the participant\u27s country of origin, sociodemographic characteristics, and BMI (kg/m2). RESULTS Overall, the prevalence rate of smoking decreased significantly during the lockdown from 29.8% to 23.5% (p\u3c0.05). The percentage of females who smoke was higher than males among the studied population. The highest smoking prevalence was found in Lebanon (33.2%), and the lowest was in Oman (7.9%). In Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, the data showed a significant difference in the education level of smokers before and during the lockdown (p\u3c0.05). Smokers in Lebanon had lower education levels than those in other countries, where the majority of smokers had a Bachelor\u27s degree. The findings show that the BMI rates in Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased during the lockdown (p\u3c0.05). The highest percentages of obesity among smokers before the lockdown were in Oman (33.3%), followed by Bahrain (28.4%) and Qatar (26.4%), whereas, during the lockdown, the percentage of obese smokers was highest in Bahrain (32.1%) followed by Qatar (31.3%) and Oman (25%). According to the logistic regression model, the odds ratio of smoking increased during the pandemic, whereas the odds ratio of TV watching decreased. This finding was statistically significant by age, gender, education level, country of residence, and work status. CONCLUSIONS Although the overall rates of smoking among the studied countries decreased during the lockdown period, we cannot attribute this change in smoking behavior to the lockdown. Smoking cessation services need to anticipate that unexpected disruptions, such as pandemic lockdowns, may be associated with changes in daily tobacco consumption. Public health authorities should promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles to reduce the long-term negative effects of the lockdown

Perceived Barriers to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity among Adolescents in Seven Arab Countries: A Cross-Cultural Study

Objective. To highlight the perceived personal, social, and environmental barriers to healthy eating and physical activity among Arab adolescents. Method. A multistage stratified sampling method was used to select 4698 students aged 15–18 years (2240 males and 2458 females) from public schools. Seven Arab counties were included in the study, namely, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Self-reported questionnaire was used to list the barriers to healthy eating and physical activity facing these adolescents. Results. It was found that lack of information on healthy eating, lack of motivation to eat a healthy diet, and not having time to prepare or eat healthy food were the main barriers to healthy eating among both genders. For physical activity, the main barriers selected were lack of motivation to do physical activity, less support from teachers, and lack of time to do physical activity. In general, females faced more barriers to physical activity than males in all countries included. There were significant differences between males and females within each country and among countries for most barriers. Conclusion. Intervention programmes to combat obesity and other chronic noncommunicable diseases in the Arab world should include solutions to overcome the barriers to weight maintenance, particularly the sociocultural barriers to practising physical activity

Dietary Diversity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Disparities, Challenges, and Mitigation Measures

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the Eastern Mediterranean Region's food system's fragility posing severe challenges to maintaining healthy sustainable lifestyle. The aim of this cross-sectional study (N = 13,527 household's family members, mean age: 30.3 ±11.6, 80% women) is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption patterns and household's dietary diversity in 10 Eastern Mediterranean countries. A food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the consumption patterns along with the calculation of the Food Consumption Score (FCS), a proxy indicator of dietary diversity. Data collected on cooking attitudes, shopping and food stock explore the community mitigation measures. In the overall population, before and during the pandemic, most food groups were consumed less or equal to 4 times per week. As evident from our findings and considering that the pandemic may be better, but it's not over, small to moderate changes in food consumption patterns in relatively short time periods can become permanent and lead to substantial poor dietary diversity over time. While it is a priority to mitigate the immediate impact, one area of great concern is the long-term effects of this pandemic on dietary patterns and dietary diversity in Eastern Mediterranean households. To conclude, the COVID-19 crisis revealed the region's unpreparedness to deal with a pandemic. While the aggressive containment strategy was essential for most countries to help prevent the spread, it came at a high nutritional cost, driving poor dietary diversity.This research was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (G047518N) and Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HBC.2018.0397). These funding sources had no role in the design of the study, the analysis and interpretation of the data or the writing of, nor the decision to publish the manuscript

Call for emergency action to restore dietary diversity and protect global food systems in times of COVID-19 and beyond: Results from a cross-sectional study in 38 countries

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of the global food system, sending shockwaves across countries' societies and economy. This has presented formidable challenges to sustaining a healthy and resilient lifestyle. The objective of this study is to examine the food consumption patterns and assess diet diversity indicators, primarily focusing on the food consumption score (FCS), among households in 38 countries both before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 37 207 participants (mean age: 36.70 ± 14.79, with 77 % women) was conducted in 38 countries through an online survey administered between April and June 2020. The study utilized a pre-tested food frequency questionnaire to explore food consumption patterns both before and during the COVID-19 periods. Additionally, the study computed Food Consumption Score (FCS) as a proxy indicator for assessing the dietary diversity of households. Findings: This quantification of global, regional and national dietary diversity across 38 countries showed an increment in the consumption of all food groups but a drop in the intake of vegetables and in the dietary diversity. The household's food consumption scores indicating dietary diversity varied across regions. It decreased in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, including Lebanon (p < 0.001) and increased in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries including Bahrain (p = 0.003), Egypt (p < 0.001) and United Arab Emirates (p = 0.013). A decline in the household's dietary diversity was observed in Australia (p < 0.001), in South Africa including Uganda (p < 0.001), in Europe including Belgium (p < 0.001), Denmark (p = 0.002), Finland (p < 0.001) and Netherland (p = 0.027) and in South America including Ecuador (p < 0.001), Brazil (p < 0.001), Mexico (p < 0.0001) and Peru (p < 0.001). Middle and older ages [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.125–1.426] [OR = 2.5; 95 % CI = [1.951–3.064], being a woman [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.117–1.367], having a high education (p < 0.001), and showing amelioration in food-related behaviors [OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = [1.292–1.709] were all linked to having a higher dietary diversity. Conclusion: The minor to moderate changes in food consumption patterns observed across the 38 countries within relatively short time frames could become lasting, leading to a significant and prolonged reduction in dietary diversity, as demonstrated by our findings.Revisión por pare

Sex disparities in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and determinants of self-reported body weight changes before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 Arab countries

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic along with its confinement period boosted lifestyle modifications and impacted women and men differently which exacerbated existing gender inequalities. The main objective of this paper is to assess the gender-based differentials in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and the determinants favoring weight change before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic among Arab men and women from 10 Arab countries. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted based on a convenience sample of 12,447 households' family members (mean age: 33.2 ± 12.9; 50.1% females) and information from participants aged 18 years and above was collected about periods before and during the pandemic. Results: Findings showed that, during the COVID-19 period, the dietary diversity, declined by 1.9% among females compared to males (0.4%) (p < 0.001) and by 1.5% among overweight participants (p < 0.001) compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: To conclude, gender-sensitive strategies and policies to address weight gain and dietary diversity during emergent shocks and pandemics are urgently needed in the region.This research was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (G047518N) and Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HBC.2018.0397). These funding sources had no role in the design of the study, the analysis and interpretation of the data or the writing, nor the decision to publish the manuscript.Scopu

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) and participants' BMI across various sociodemographic groups in Arab countries in the Mediterranean Region

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco smokers are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. Lockdown was a chosen strategy to deal with the spread of infectious diseases; nonetheless, it influenced people's eating and smoking behaviors. The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) behavior and its associations with sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index. METHODS: The data were derived from a large-scale retrospective cross-sectional study using a validated online international survey from 38 countries (n=37207) conducted between 17 April and 25 June 2020. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMR countries) data related to 10 Arabic countries that participated in this survey have been selected for analysis in this study. A total of 12433 participants were included in the analysis of this study, reporting their smoking behavior and their BMI before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between smoking practices and the participant's country of origin, sociodemographic characteristics, and BMI (kg/m2). RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence rate of smoking decreased significantly during the lockdown from 29.8% to 23.5% (p<0.05). The percentage of females who smoke was higher than males among the studied population. The highest smoking prevalence was found in Lebanon (33.2%), and the lowest was in Oman (7.9%). In Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, the data showed a significant difference in the education level of smokers before and during the lockdown (p<0.05). Smokers in Lebanon had lower education levels than those in other countries, where the majority of smokers had a Bachelor's degree. The findings show that the BMI rates in Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased during the lockdown (p<0.05). The highest percentages of obesity among smokers before the lockdown were in Oman (33.3%), followed by Bahrain (28.4%) and Qatar (26.4%), whereas, during the lockdown, the percentage of obese smokers was highest in Bahrain (32.1%) followed by Qatar (31.3%) and Oman (25%). According to the logistic regression model, the odds ratio of smoking increased during the pandemic, whereas the odds ratio of TV watching decreased. This finding was statistically significant by age, gender, education level, country of residence, and work status. CONCLUSIONS: Although the overall rates of smoking among the studied countries decreased during the lockdown period, we cannot attribute this change in smoking behavior to the lockdown. Smoking cessation services need to anticipate that unexpected disruptions, such as pandemic lockdowns, may be associated with changes in daily tobacco consumption. Public health authorities should promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles to reduce the long-term negative effects of the lockdown

Call for emergency action to restore dietary diversity and protect global food systems in times of COVID-19 and beyond: Results from a cross-sectional study in 38 countries

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of the global food system, sending shockwaves across countries\u27 societies and economy. This has presented formidable challenges to sustaining a healthy and resilient lifestyle. The objective of this study is to examine the food consumption patterns and assess diet diversity indicators, primarily focusing on the food consumption score (FCS), among households in 38 countries both before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 37 207 participants (mean age: 36.70 ± 14.79, with 77 % women) was conducted in 38 countries through an online survey administered between April and June 2020. The study utilized a pre-tested food frequency questionnaire to explore food consumption patterns both before and during the COVID-19 periods. Additionally, the study computed Food Consumption Score (FCS) as a proxy indicator for assessing the dietary diversity of households. Findings: This quantification of global, regional and national dietary diversity across 38 countries showed an increment in the consumption of all food groups but a drop in the intake of vegetables and in the dietary diversity. The household\u27s food consumption scores indicating dietary diversity varied across regions. It decreased in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, including Lebanon (p \u3c 0.001) and increased in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries including Bahrain (p = 0.003), Egypt (p \u3c 0.001) and United Arab Emirates (p = 0.013). A decline in the household\u27s dietary diversity was observed in Australia (p \u3c 0.001), in South Africa including Uganda (p \u3c 0.001), in Europe including Belgium (p \u3c 0.001), Denmark (p = 0.002), Finland (p \u3c 0.001) and Netherland (p = 0.027) and in South America including Ecuador (p \u3c 0.001), Brazil (p \u3c 0.001), Mexico (p \u3c 0.0001) and Peru (p \u3c 0.001). Middle and older ages [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.125–1.426] [OR = 2.5; 95 % CI = [1.951–3.064], being a woman [OR = 1.2; 95 % CI = [1.117–1.367], having a high education (p \u3c 0.001), and showing amelioration in food-related behaviors [OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = [1.292–1.709] were all linked to having a higher dietary diversity. Conclusion: The minor to moderate changes in food consumption patterns observed across the 38 countries within relatively short time frames could become lasting, leading to a significant and prolonged reduction in dietary diversity, as demonstrated by our findings

Two Auxiliary Variables in Ratio Method of Estimation and its Application

In this paper an attempt is made to provide a ratio estimator based on two auxiliary variables to estimate the mean of a survey variable when the means as well as the coefficients of variation of two auxiliary variables are known. It is an extension of [1] ratio estimator based on two auxiliary variables, in the sense that the assumptionof the coefficients of correlation between variable under study (y) with auxiliary variables equal [] is relaxed. The mean square error (variance) of the suggested estimator, up to terms of order n-1, is obtained. The usefulness of the estimator is demonstrated with the help of examples taken from the literature. The performance of the suggested estimator with that of Olkin’s estimator is demonstrated empirically. Since the suggested estimator involves unknown population parameter d (= ), while in Olkin’s estimator (optimum)requires the knowledge of unknown population parameters such as 0201 and ,ρρyC, hence the performance is also studied by deviating d and from 0% to 30 % in either directions

Evaluating key differences between higher education in the UK and the Middle East from a quality perspective with a view to enhancing education in Qatar

This research focuses on executing a comprehensive analysis of the difference that exist between the higher education system of the UK and the higher education system of Qatar. This comparative analysis has been executed with focus on the quality of education of both education systems and suggests improvements of the higher education system of Qatar. It identifies reasons and drivers of quality differences in higher education in the UK and Middle East having a major focus on Qatar. The research used a mixed approach to achieve the objectives of this research. Primary qualitative data has been collected using an interview questionnaire technique of faculty members from both countries, simultaneously with quantitative data collected by students through surveys from both countries; the United Kingdom and the Middle East. Given the implications for quality of higher education, this study assesses the quality of both higher education systems to identify implications for improving the higher education system in Qatar in particular, and in the Middle East in general. According to findings from interviews and the survey, several findings have been identified that relate to the research objectives of the study. It found that there were different reasons leading to differences in higher education in both countries. This study emphasizes the importance of engagement with students, teaching quality improvement, support for quality of the learning infrastructure, professional success and the implementation of monitoring and improvement of the higher education framework. The research demonstrated that institutional factors directly influence the quality of higher education systems in each and argues that the concept of quality of higher education in the United Kingdom is a central element of the university management process. Results indicate that higher education in Qatar requires extensive strategic planning to improve quality standards. Based on these findings, it was determined that higher education in Qatar needed different strategic planning and implementation approaches to improve quality services. There are limitations in most research and in this research the main limitations were those of time and aspects of data collection. These limitations resulted in restricting specific numbers of participants and secondary literature research. Educators and students both have busy schedule and can become difficult to respond to the questionnaire appropriately. In addition, with limited time, the researcher needed to limit the scope of secondary resources in order that the research work could be completed on time