title: Weight, height, body mass index and prevalence of obesity among the adult population in Bahrain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine anthropometric measurements (weight, height, body mass index, BMI), and the prevalence of overweight and obesity based on BMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey of 514 Bahraini native adults aged 30-79 years was selected from households using clustering sampling technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicate that Bahraini adults were shorter but heavier, and have higher mean BMI than their Western counterparts, suggesting a trend to obesity. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35.2% and 21.2% for men, while that for women was 31% and 48.7%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study confirmed the data in other Arabian Gulf countries, as obesity is a major public health problem among the adult population. Anthropometrics provided in this study can be used as baseline data for the adult population of Bahrain.
authors.affiliation: Environmental and Biological Programme, Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research, Manama. amusaiger@bcsr.gov.bh
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Musaiger
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Mannai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001445:Bahrain / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution