Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T21:02:59.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anthropometry of women of childbearing age in Morocco: body composition and prevalence of overweight and obesity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Rekia Belahsen ,
Mohamed Mziwira  and
Fatima Fertat
Rekia Belahsen*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Physiology Applied to Nutrition and Feeding, Training and Research Unit on Food Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, School of Sciences, BP 20, El Jadida 24000, Morocco
Mohamed Mziwira
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Physiology Applied to Nutrition and Feeding, Training and Research Unit on Food Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, School of Sciences, BP 20, El Jadida 24000, Morocco
Fatima Fertat
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Physiology Applied to Nutrition and Feeding, Training and Research Unit on Food Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, School of Sciences, BP 20, El Jadida 24000, Morocco
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected] or [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

To determine the prevalence of obesity and body fat distribution of Moroccan women of childbearing age, using a panel of anthropometric measurements.

Design and setting:

A cross-sectional survey conducted in 1995 in an agricultural community, El Jadida province of Morocco. Weight, height, waist and hip circumferences and triceps, biceps, subscapular and supra-iliac skinfold thicknesses were measured. Body mass index (BMI), waist/hip ratio (WHR), sum of all and sum of trunk skinfold thicknesses were determined.

Subjects:

In total, 1269 women aged 15–49 years from urban and rural areas were surveyed.

Results:

The means of all anthropometric measurements including body fat were higher in urban than in rural women and increased with age. Trunk fat contributed 50% of total fat. Globally, 4.7% of women were underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg m−2), 35.2% were overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg m−2), 10.1% were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg m−2) and 16.8% had central obesity (WHR > 0.85). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in the urban than in the rural area. Underweight prevalence decreased with age, whereas that of overweight and obesity increased. All anthropometric parameters adjusted for age increased with the increase of BMI and WHR.

Conclusions:

Although undernutrition is still prevalent, there is an alarming prevalence of overweight and obesity in Moroccan women of childbearing age. The results indicate a shift in this country from the problem of dietary deficiency to the problem of dietary excess, and alert one to the necessity of establishing an intervention to prevent obesity-related diseases. It is necessary to address which of the anthropometric variables studied here is the best predictor of obesity-related diseases in this population.

Keywords

AnthropometryBody mass indexWomenBody fat distributionOverweightObesity
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , June 2004 , pp. 523 - 530
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2004

References

1World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Report of WHO Consultation on Obesity, 3–5 June 1997. Geneva: WHO, 1998.Google Scholar
2Monteiro, CA, Mondini, L, Medeiros de Souza, AL, Popkin, BM. The nutrition transition. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995; 49 105–13.Google ScholarPubMed
3Popkin, BM. The nutrition transition in low income countries: an emerging crisis Paper presented at Diet and Chronic Diseases in Countries in Socio-economic Transition, Experimental Biology Conference, Anaheim, CA, 24–28 04 1994.Google Scholar
4Benjelloun, S. Nutrition transition in Morocco. Public Health Nutrition 2002; 5(1A): 135–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Popkin, BM, Keyou, G, Fengying, Z, Guo, X, Haijiang, M, Zohoori, N. The nutrition transition in China; a cross-sectional analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1993; 47 333–46.Google Scholar
6St-Pierre, J, Lemieux, I, Vohl, M-C, Perron, P, Tremblay, G, Després, JP, et al. Contribution of abdominal obesity and hypertriglyceridemia to impaired fasting glucose and coronary artery disease. American Journal of Cardiology 2002; 90 15–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Wei, M, Gaskill, SP, Haffner, SM, Stern, MP. Waist circumference as the best predictor of noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) compared to body mass index, waist/hip ratio and other anthropometric measurements in Mexican Americans–a 7-year prospective study. Obesity Research 1997; 5(1): 16–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Deurenberg, P, Andreoli, A, Borg, P, Kukkonen-Harjula, K, de Lorenzo, A, van Marken Lichtenbelt, WD, et al. The validity of predicted body fat percentage from body mass index and from impedance in samples of five European populations. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2001; 55 973–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Huang, KC, Lin, WY, Lee, LT, Chen, CY, Lo, H, Hsia, HH, et al. Four anthropometric indices and cardiovascular risk factors in Taiwan. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2002; 26(8): 1060–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Pouliot, MC, Despres, JP, Lemieux, S, Moorjani, S, Bouchard, C, Tremblay, A, et al. Waist circumference and abdominal sagittal diameter: the best simple anthropometric indices of abdominal visceral adipose tissue accumulation and related cardiovascular risk in men and women. American Journal of Cardiology 1994; 73 460–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Lean, MEJ, Han, TS, Morrison, CE. Waist circumference as a measure for indicating need for weight management. British Medical Journal 1995; 311 158–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Fujioka, S, Matsuzawa, Y, Tokunaga, K, Tarui, S. Contribution of intra-abdominal fat accumulation to the impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism in human obesity. Metabolism 1987; 36 54–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Goldstone, AP, Thomas, EL, Brynes, AE, Bell, JD, Frost, G, Saeed, N, et al. Visceral adipose tissue and metabolic complications of obesity are reduced in Prader–Willi syndrome female adults: evidence for novel influences on body fat distribution. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2001; 86 4330–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Mokhtar, N, Elati, J, Chabir, R, Bour, A, Elkari, K, Schlossman, NP, et al. Diet, culture and obesity in northern Africa. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131(3): 887S–92S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Ministry of Health. Government of Morocco and Ligue des États Arabes (PAPCHILD). National Survey on Mother's and Infant Health. National Report Rabat: Ministry of Health, 1997.Google Scholar
16Statistics Department, Ministry of Socio-Economic Affairs, Government of Morocco. Report of National Survey on Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure, Morocco, 1998/1999. Rabat: Ministry of Socio-Economic Affairs, 2000.Google Scholar
17Galal, O. Nutrition-related health patterns in the Middle East. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003; 12(3): 337–43.Google ScholarPubMed
18Direction de la Statistique. Consommation et Dépenses des Ménages 1984/1985. Vols 1, 5, 6 and 7. Rabat: Direction de la Statistique, 1992.Google Scholar
19World Health Organization (WHO). Measuring Obesity–Classification and Description of Anthropometric Data. Report on a WHO Consultation on the Epidemiology of Obesity, Warsaw, 21–23 October 1987. Nutrition Unit Document, Eur/ICP/NUT Copenhagen: WHO, 1987.Google Scholar
20Roche, AF, Heymsfield, SB, Lohman, TG. Human Body Composition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1996.Google Scholar
21Van der Kooy, K, Seidell, JC. Techniques for the measurements of visceral fat: a practical guide. International Journal of Obesity 1983; 17 187–96.Google Scholar
22Goran, MI, Nagy, TR, Treuth, MS, Trowbridge, C, Dezenberg, C, McGloin, A. Visceral fat in white and African American prepubertal children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1997; 65: 1703–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Han, TS, Williams, K, Sattar, N, Hunt, KJ, Lean, ME, Haffner, SM. Analysis of obesity and hyperinsulinemia in the development of metabolic syndrome: San Antonio Heart Study. 2002; Obesity Research 10(9): 923–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Roche Foundation and Ministry of Health, Government Morocco. Obesity in Morocco, Preliminary Report 1999. Rabat: Ministry of Health, 1999.Google Scholar
25Seidell, JC. Are abdominal diameters abominable indicators? In: Angel, A, Bouchard, C, eds. Progress in Obesity Research. London: Libbey, 1995; 303–6.Google Scholar
26Han, TS, van Leer, EM, Seidell, JC, Lean, ME. Waist circumference action level in the identification of cardiovascular risk factors: prevalence study in a random sample. British Medical Journal 1995; 311 1401–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Zhu, S, Wang, Z, Heshka, S, Heo, M, Faith, MS, Heymsfield, SB. Waist circumference and obesity-associated risk factors among whites in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: clinical action thresholds. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002; 76(4): 743–9.Google ScholarPubMed
28Björntorp, P. Metabolic implications of body fat distribution. Diabetes Care 1991; 14 1132–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29World Health Organization (WHO). Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Technical Report Series No. 797. Geneva: WHO, 1990.Google Scholar
30Musaiger, AO, Al-Ansari, M, Al-Manal, M. Anthropometry of adolescent girls in Bahrain, including body fat distribution. Annals of Human Biology 2000; 27(5): 507–15.Google ScholarPubMed
31Al-Rehaimi, AA, Bjorntorp, P. Obesity and fat distribution in women from Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 1992; 16(12): 1017–9.Google ScholarPubMed
32Blew, RM, Sardinha, LB, Milliken, LA, Teixeira, PJ, Going, SB, Ferreira, DL, et al. Assessing the validity of body mass index standards in early postmenopausal women. Obesity Research 2002; 10(8): 799–808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Institut National de Nutrition et de Technologie Alimentaire et le Ministère de la Santé Publique. National Survey Report on Nutritional Status of Tunisian Population. Tunis: Ministry of Health, 1997.Google Scholar
34Ghassemi, H, Harrison, G, Mohammad, K. 2002; An accelerated nutrition transition in Iran. Public Health Nutrition 5(1A): 149–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35Molarius, A, Seidell, JC, Sans, S, Tuomielehto, J, Kuulasmaa, K. Educational level, relative body weight, and changes in their association over 10 years: an international perspective from the WHO MONICA project. American Journal of Public Health 2000; 90(8): 1260–8.Google ScholarPubMed
36 US Department of Health and Human Services. US Dietary Guidelines, Internet Edition [online], 1994. Available at http://www.dhhs.gov.Google Scholar
37Coitinho, DC, Sichieri, R, D'Aquino Benicio, MH. Obesity and weight change related to parity and breast-feeding among parous women in Brazil. Public Health Nutrition 2001; 4(4): 865–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38Okusun, IS, Tedders, SH, Choi, S, Dever, G. Abdominal adiposity values associated with established body mass indexes in white, black and Hispanic Americans. A study from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 2000; 24: 1279–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
39Baumgartner, RN, Heymsfield, SB, Roche, AF. Human body composition and the epidemiology of chronic disease. Obesity Research 1995; 3: 73–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40Bar-Or, O, Foreyt, J, Bouchard, C, Brownell, KD, Dietz, WH, Ravussin, E. Physical activity, genetic and nutritional consideration in childhood weight management. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 1998; 30: 2–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed