title: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults from North Africa.
abstract: The share of North African immigrants in Europe is growing continuously. In this review, we aimed to systematically analyse and describe the literature on weight status and physical activity in North African adults, both in their home country and after immigration to Europe. Existing data on North African residents and on North African immigrants in Europe were analysed by a systematic search on PUBMED. There is a wide variation among countries in the prevalence of overweight/obesity, with immigrants showing higher values. The overall results revealed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in females than in males in North African residents. Females also show higher levels of obesity among immigrants. In particular, literature reports indicate that 1.3-47.8% of North African residents and 3.6-49.4% of North African immigrants in adult age are overweight or obese. Physical inactivity is higher than 20% in males and 40% in females in North African residents. The highest frequency of physically inactive or lightly active people among immigrants was observed in first-generation Sudanese and Moroccans in Amsterdam (males: 57.1%; females: 74.2%), with increasing rates in second-generation females. The results underline a higher health risk in North African immigrants than in residents. Specific public health strategies should be adopted in various populations of North African origin to control the obesity epidemic.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toselli
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy emanuela.gualdi@unife.it.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gualdi-Russo
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Dina N K
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Boulos
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Wagida A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.affiliation: 4 CERP-Tunisia (Centre for Studies and Research Prospects), University of Carthage, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Chérifa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lakhoua
authors.affiliation: 4 CERP-Tunisia (Centre for Studies and Research Prospects), University of Carthage, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jaouadi
authors.affiliation: 5 Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco.
authors.forename: Meriem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khyatti
authors.affiliation: 6 German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany7 Center for Primary Health Care Research, Clinical Research Center, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hemminki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000352:Africa, Northern / Q000208:ethnology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000208:ethnology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult