Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Nutrients
Publication Date
1-11-2023
Abstract
This review study aimed to assess the nutrition situation in the UAE using published data from 2010 to 2022. It highlights the gaps and challenges that prevail in addressing the nutrition-related problems in the UAE and the opportunities that have been overlooked. The available literature indicates that the UAE is burdened with more than one form of nutrition-related problems, including being underweight, being overweight, obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and nutrition-related chronic diseases. It is clear that data on micronutrient deficiencies, protein-energy malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, and other nutrition-related diseases among the UAE population are extremely scarce. The UAE has a high prevalence of obesity and diabetes; however, limited studies have been conducted to document this nutritional phenomenon. Few examples of published data are available assessing the burden of stunting, wasting, and being underweight among children under five years of age. Despite the importance of protein-energy malnutrition, no recent publications analyze its prevalence within the UAE population. Therefore, future studies must be conducted, focusing on malnutrition. Based on the literature, and bearing in mind the magnitude of the health issues due to the UAE population's nutrition negligence, there is an urgent need to assess the population's nutrient behaviors, to aid policy decision-makers in developing and implementing effective health policies and strategies.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
MDPI AG
Volume
15
Issue
2
First Page
363
Last Page
363
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Keywords
UAE, Nutritional status, Malnutrition, Overweight, Obesity, Exclusive breastfeeding, Stunting, Wasting, Anemia, Food consumption pattern
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Al Sabbah, Haleama; Assaf, Enas A.; Al-Jawaldeh, Ayoub; AlSammach, Afra Salah; Madi, Haifa; Al Ali, Nouf Khamis; Al Dhaheri, Ayesha S.; and Ismail, Leila Cheikh, "Nutrition Situation Analysis in the UAE: A Review Study" (2023). All Works. 5638.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/5638
Indexed in Scopus
no
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series