Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, P.O. BOX 11-0.236 Riad El Solh, 11072020 Beirut, Lebanon.
University Libraries, American University of Beirut, P.O. BOX 11-0.236 Riad El Solh, 11072020 Beirut, Lebanon.
Nutr Res. 2017 Nov;47:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2017.07.011. Epub 2017 Aug 3.
Effective public health nutrition interventions are needed to curb the escalating prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in many Arab countries. In order to generate the scientific evidence needed for the success of these interventions, an informed research agenda should be developed. The purpose of this review is to identify gaps and opportunities for research on nutrition and NCDs among Arab countries, which is an important step towards the formulation of this research agenda. Published papers that addressed nutrition and NCDs in Arab countries between the years 2006 and 2015 were reviewed (n=824). The main gaps identified were related to the predominance of laboratory-based studies with few cohort and intervention studies, and the small percentage of articles examining dietary patterns. While food frequency questionnaires were the main dietary assessment method used, only 35% were validated. Very few studies included children and the majority considered nutrition in isolation, excluding other environmental factors. Opportunities identified included the promising momentum in studying nutrition and NCDs among Arab countries, evidenced by an increasing number of articles published over the years, that may be guided in future nutrition research to fill the identified gaps. In addition, the higher number of articles in high-income countries coupled with the impact of papers in middle-income countries suggests an opportunity of synergistic collaboration among these countries. The identified gaps and opportunities in this review may serve as basis for Arab countries to start developing a research agenda in the area of nutrition and NCDs.
需要有效的公共卫生营养干预措施来遏制许多阿拉伯国家不断上升的非传染性疾病（NCD）流行率。为了为这些干预措施的成功提供所需的科学证据，应该制定一个明智的研究议程。本综述的目的是确定阿拉伯国家营养与 NCD 研究方面的差距和机会，这是制定该研究议程的重要一步。对 2006 年至 2015 年间在阿拉伯国家发表的涉及营养与 NCD 的论文进行了回顾（n=824）。确定的主要差距与以实验室为基础的研究占主导地位、队列和干预研究较少以及检查饮食模式的文章比例较小有关。虽然食物频率问卷是主要的饮食评估方法，但只有 35%经过验证。很少有研究包括儿童，而且大多数研究都是孤立地考虑营养，不包括其他环境因素。确定的机会包括阿拉伯国家在营养和 NCD 研究方面的良好发展势头，这一点从近年来发表的文章数量不断增加得到证明，未来的营养研究可以以此为指导，填补已确定的差距。此外，高收入国家的文章数量较多，加上中等收入国家的论文的影响，表明这些国家之间存在协同合作的机会。本综述中确定的差距和机会可以为阿拉伯国家制定营养与 NCD 研究议程提供基础。
