Jabbour Jana, Khalil Merette, Ronzoni Anna Rita, Mabry Ruth, Al-Jawaldeh Ayoub, El-Adawy Maha, Sakr Hala
Nutrition Program, Department of Natural Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Department of Healthier Populations, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt.
Front Nutr. 2023 Mar 7;10:1113662. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1113662. eCollection 2023.
Malnutrition takes a heavy toll on the populations of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), with gender related socioeconomic risk factors impacting undernutrition and obesity in both women and men. This perspective article, a derivative of a report by the World Health Organization, reviews the scientific literature on the effect of gender on malnutrition related outcomes in the EMR. Results revealed that biological and gender-related socioeconomic risk factors play a role for undernutrition and obesity in both women and men. Malnutrition can be negatively influenced by gender-biased cultural standards, habits, structural determinants, differential exposures, and health system gaps. This can result, for example, in women tending to focus on familial and household related needs, at the expense of their own health and physical mobility and on suffering more food insecurity, undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity compared to men in the EMR. Conflict and crisis situations negatively affect both genders, but generally put women at a higher risk of adverse. Women's socially limited autonomy in mobility is also an obstacle to access to health services in the EMR, including those related to nutrition. Multi-level approaches are needed to address gender issues to enable a more equitable distribution of resources and reduce the impact of malnutrition in the EMR.
营养不良给东地中海区域的民众造成了沉重负担，与性别相关的社会经济风险因素影响着男性和女性的营养不足及肥胖问题。这篇观点文章源自世界卫生组织的一份报告，回顾了关于性别对东地中海区域营养不良相关结果影响的科学文献。结果显示，生物学因素以及与性别相关的社会经济风险因素在男性和女性的营养不足及肥胖问题中都发挥着作用。营养不良会受到性别偏见的文化标准、习惯、结构决定因素、不同暴露情况以及卫生系统差距的负面影响。例如，这可能导致在东地中海区域，女性倾向于关注家庭和家务相关需求，而牺牲自身健康和身体活动能力，并且比男性面临更多的粮食不安全、营养不足、微量营养素缺乏和肥胖问题。冲突和危机局势对两性都会产生负面影响，但通常会使女性面临更高的不利风险。在东地中海区域，女性在行动方面受到社会限制的自主权也是获取包括营养相关服务在内的卫生服务的障碍。需要采取多层次方法来解决性别问题，以实现资源更公平的分配，并减少东地中海区域营养不良的影响。
