@article{hbkup:/content/journals/10.5339/connect.2019.1, author = "Fosse, Kari Beinnes and Rootwelt, Christine and Tuffaha, Amjad and Said, Hana and Sandridge, Amy L. and Janahi, Ibrahim and Hedin, Lars and Elkum, Naser and Greer, William", title = "The increasing trend in the body mass index of Qatari adolescents 2003–2009", journal= "QScience Connect", year = "2019", volume = "2019", number = "1", pages = "", doi = "https://doi.org/10.5339/connect.2019.1", url = "https://www.qscience.com/content/journals/10.5339/connect.2019.1", publisher = "Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)", issn = "2223-506X", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "overweight", keywords = "obesity", keywords = "BMI", keywords = "Qatar", keywords = "adolescents", keywords = "Children", eid = "1", abstract = "Background: Although obesity is an increasing public health problem throughout the Arabian Peninsula, only a few comprehensive population-based studies have been published in Qatar. In particular, there is a dearth of published information on the increasing body mass index (BMI) of the most vulnerable Qatari sub-population – adolescents. This paper partially addresses this omission by documenting the BMI status of Qatari youth in 2008/2009; it also highlights the changes in BMI that occurred during the first decade of this century, when local risk factors were significantly increasing. Methods: Using a simple random sampling approach, adolescents were selected from a pool of Qatari children attending government schools in Qatar. This resulted in a comprehensive dataset of height and BMI for 705 boys and girls aged 12–17 years. Results: The overall prevalence of Qatari adolescents who were overweight/obese in 2008–2009 was 19.9%/26.7% (boys) and 23.2%/17.2% (girls). This represents a change in the prevalence of overweight/obesity of − 8.7%/+18.8 (boys) and +4.3%/+12.1% (girls) during the time between these studies. Conclusions: BMI increased substantially during the last decade, leading to a corresponding increase in the prevalence of adolescent obesity. These results demonstrate that regular monitoring of the BMI status of the Qatari adolescent population provides valuable predictors for adults.", }