Dietary transition and obesity in selected Arabicspeaking countries: a review of the current evidence.

Escalating obesity rates have become a significant public health problem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and have been associated with shifts towards a westernized diet. This integrative review aimed to examine the current dietary trends and transitions and their association with obesity in Arabic-speaking countries of the MENA region. Relevant databases were searched for studies in MENA countries between 1998 and 2014 that investigated obesity trends and changes in dietary patterns at the regional level in all age groups. A total of 39 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All the articles noted that obesity was increasingly prevalent and that there was a significant dietary shift away from traditional dietary patterns; 51% reported a shift towards a westernized diet and half found that the western diet was correlated with increased obesity. Culturally relevant dietary health education and health promotion strategies are warranted to address both the dietary shifts towards the westernized diet and the increasing obesity.

Dietary transition and obesity in selected Arabic-speaking countries: a review of the current evidence

Escalating obesity rates have become a significant public health problem in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region and have been associated with shifts towards a westernized diet. This integrative review aimed to examine the current dietary trends and transitions and their association with obesity in Arabic-speaking countries of the MENA region. Relevant databases were searched for studies in MENA countries between 1998 and 2014 that investigated obesity trends and changes in dietary patterns at the regional level in all age groups. A total of 39 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All the articles noted that obesity was increasingly prevalent and that there was a significant dietary shift away from traditional dietary patterns; 51% reported a shift towards a westernized diet and half found that the western diet was correlated with increased obesity. Culturally relevant dietary health education and health promotion strategies are warranted to address both the dietary shifts towards the westernized diet and the increasing obesity

L'augmentation rapide des taux d'obésité est devenue un problème de santé publique significatif dans la région du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord [MENA] et est associée à une occidentalisation des habitudes alimentaires. Le présent examen intégratif visait à étudier les tendances et les transitions alimentaires actuelles ainsi que leurs associations à l'obésité dans des pays arabophones de la région MENA. Des recherches ont été menées dans des bases de données pertinentes afin de trouver des études réalisées dans les pays de la région MENA entre 1998 et 2014 portant sur les tendances de l'obésité et les changements d'habitudes alimentaires parmi tous les groupes d'âge au niveau régional. Au total, 39 articles répondaient au critère d'inclusion. Tous les articles mentionnaient que l'obésité était de plus en plus prévalente et qu'un éloignement notable des habitudes alimentaires traditionnelles s'opérait. En effet, 51% des articles rapportaient une occidentalisation de l'alimentation, et la moitié concluait qu'il y avait une corrélation entre l'alimentation occidentale et l'augmentation de l'obésité. Une éducation en santé alimentaire et des stratégies de promotion de la santé pertinentes d'un point de vue culturel sont requises pour s'attaquer à la question de l'occidentalisation des habitudes alimentaires et de l'augmentation de l'obésité

Prefrontal D1 and ventral hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate regulation of startle gating in rats.

BACKGROUND: Sensorimotor gating, as measured by prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex, is deficient in schizophrenia patients, and in rats after specific manipulations of limbic cortico-striato-pallido-thalamic circuitry. For example, prepulse inhibition in rats is disrupted after D1 blockade in the medial prefrontal cortex, and after N-methyl-D-aspartate infusion into the ventral hippocampus. In the present study, we examined whether these two substrates form part of an integrated circuit regulating sensorimotor gating, which might contribute to the loss of prepulse inhibition in patient populations. METHODS: Prepulse inhibition was assessed in male Sprague-Dawley rats after systemic or intra-medial prefrontal cortex administration of the D1 antagonist, SCH 23390. Separate rats received intra-medial prefrontal cortex infusion of the retrograde transported label Fluoro-Gold. In rats with sham or electrolytic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex, prepulse inhibition was tested after infusion of N-methyl-D-aspartate or vehicle into ventral hippocampus regions that were determined to send projections to the medial prefrontal cortex. RESULTS: Prepulse inhibition was disrupted after systemic SCH 23390 treatment and after infusion of SCH 23390 into medial prefrontal cortex sites within the prelimbic and cingulate cortices. Fluoro-Gold infusion into these medial prefrontal cortex sites labeled cells in the ventral hippocampus complex, including regions CA1 and entorhinal cortex. N-methyl-D-aspartate infusions into these ventral hippocampus regions disrupted prepulse inhibition in rats after sham but not electrolytic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Prepulse inhibition appears to be regulated by interacting substrates within the ventral hippocampus and MPFC. Specifically, NMDA activation of the ventral hippocampus appears to disrupt prepulse inhibition in a manner that is dependent on the integrity of infralimbic or cingulate cortical regions that also support a D1-mediated regulation of prepulse inhibition. Conceivably, dysfunction within these hippocampal-frontal circuits may contribute to sensorimotor gating deficits in schizophrenia.