Characteristics and distribution of obesity in the Arab-American population of southeastern Michigan
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Characteristics and distribution of obesity in the Arab-American population of southeastern Michigan Saivaishnavi Kamatham1, Joseph Trak1, Suma Alzouhayli2, Ziad Fehmi3, Nabil Rahoui1, Noor Sulieman3, Zaina Khoury3, Omar Fehmi3, Hanan Rakine3, Dana El-Masri4, Deema Ujayli5, Hanin Elhagehassan3, James Naaman6, Firas Almsaddi5, Michael Salloum6, Iqra Farooquee5, Nadia Syed7, Seongho Kim8, Omar Lattouf9, Michele L. Cote10 and Rouba Ali-Fehmi1*
Abstract Background: Arab-Americans constitute ~ 5% of Michigan’s population. Estimates of obesity in Arab-Americans are not up-to-date. We aim to describe the distribution of and factors associated with obesity in an Arab-American population in Southeastern Michigan (SE MI). Methods: Retrospective medical record review identified n = 2363 Arab-American patients seeking care at an ArabAmerican serving clinic in SE MI, located in a city which is home to a large proportion of Arab-Americans in the United States (US). Body mass index (BMI) was the primary outcome of interest. Distribution of BMI was described using percentages, and logistic regression models were constructed to examine the association between obesity, other comorbid conditions and health behaviors. This cohort was compared to Michigan’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 2018 (n = 9589) and to a cohort seeking care between 2013 and 2019 from a free clinic (FC) located in another city in SE MI (n = 1033). Results: Of the 2363 Arab-American patients, those who were older or with HTN, DM or HLD had a higher prevalence of obesity than patients who were younger or without these comorbidities (all p-value < 0.001). Patients with HTN were 3 times as likely to be obese than those without HTN (95% CI: 2.41–3.93; p < 0.001). Similarly, the odds of being obese were 2.5 times higher if the patient was diabetic (95% CI: 1.92–3.16; p < 0.001) and 2.2 times higher if the patient had HLD (95% CI: 1.75–2.83; p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in obesity rates between Arab-Americans (31%) and the BRFSS population (32.6%). Compared to Arab-Americans, patients seen at the FC had a higher obesity rate (52.6%; p < 0.001) as well as significantly higher rates of HTN, DM and HLD (all p < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall obesity rates in Arab-Americans were comparable to the population-based BRFSS rates, and lower than the patients seen at the FC. Further studies are required to understand the impact of obesity and the association of comorbidities in Arab-Americans. Keywords: Arab-Americans, Body mass index (BMI), Diabetes mellitus, Employment, Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension, Michigan, Obesity
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction i
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