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

Influence assessment of SARS-CoV outbreak in Riyadh on medication adherence in hypertensive patients in tertiary hospital

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on medication adherence has not been studied previously; this cross-sectional survey-based study on hypertensive patients was conducted to determine the impact of COVID-19 on medication adherence. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on hypertensive patients at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC). 500 Patients were selected by a non-probability convenience sampling. The level of medication adherence was measured using a modified questionnaire after reviewing the literature. Data collection was done via interviews and the data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The 500 patients divided into 237 (47.4%) male and 263 (52.6%) female participants. 20.6% of the sample were smokers, while the majority of patients were non-smokers. Furthermore, 65% confirmed having other comorbidities. Almost 65% of the sample reported total adherence to their medications. The study considered those that missed more than 7 continuous days of medication to be non-adherent. As such, almost 5.8% of the sample reported non-adherence to their medications which was a noticeable decrease from previous studies. The variables that proved to have an association with medication adherence were level of education, awareness of blood pressure target, forgetfulness as a mental illness symptom, maintenance of social relationships, delays in medication refills and skips in medical appointments. Conclusion: When compared to previous studies, this study revealed an increase in adherence rate, but there was no conclusive evidence of a correlation

Cephalometric norms of skeletal relationship among populations in selected Arab countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Aim: Despite the availability of several published studies on cephalometric norms among different Arabic countries, “Caucasian” norms are still used as the standard in these countries. The aim of this study was to review the existing literature on the topic and show a meta-analysis of the review for the skeletal values observed in the study. Materials and Methods: An electronic search was conducted for studies that examined the SNA, SNB, and ANB angles in study subjects in different Arabic speaking countries. A total of 16 studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review and a meta-analysis with results from these studies was completed using the OpenMeta-Analyst software (Brown University, Providence, RI, USA). The weighted mean and I2 for heterogeneity were computed individually for the SNA, SNB, and ANB angles, respectively. Results: The result of the meta-analysis showed a significant heterogeneity for the SNA, SNB, and ANB angles of each of the populations, suggesting that the populations of the different Arab nations studied were ethnically diverse. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that given the high level of heterogeneity it may not be feasible to speak of the different Arabic speaking nations as a distinct population for the purpose of developing norms for cephalometric skeletal relationships

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Public Interest in the Energy Labelling on Restaurant Menus

No study has investigated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public’s interest in using energy labelling on restaurant menus. This study explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public interest in using energy labelling on restaurant menus and meal delivery applications and the impact of energy-labelling availability on food choices during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire was completed by 1657 participants aged ≥ 18 years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 32% of customers visited a restaurant 2–4 times/week. However, during the pandemic, 35% of customers visited a restaurant only once per week. There was no difference in interest in reading energy labelling or using meal delivery applications before and during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, about 55% of restaurant customers reported that they had noticed energy labelling, with 42% of them being influenced by the energy-labelling information. Regarding energy information on food delivery applications, 40% of customers noticed energy labelling when using the applications, with 33% of them being affected by the energy labelling. Customer interest in reading about energy on restaurant menus during the pandemic did not change significantly from the level of interest before the pandemic. The interest expressed by the public in using the energy labelling was low both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic