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The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among adolescents attending independent schools in Qatar.

A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in November-December 2013 in 23 secondary schools. A total of 1,161 students aged 14 to 19 year olds were randomly selected using a multistage stratified cluster random sampling technique. Body weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were measured using standard protocol. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) reference were used to define overweight and obesity. Abdominal obesity (AO) was defined by waist to height ratio (WHtR ≥ 0.5) and by sex- and age-specific WC cut-off values.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the study population was 20.6 and 20.7%, respectively. The highest rate of overweight and obesity was observed among boys, and the youngest age group. The rate of obesity defined by either WC/or WHtR was higher than that assessed by BMI. The prevalence of AO assessed by WC and WHtR was 48.8 and 46.9%, respectively. The rate of AO was significantly higher (p < 0.05) among boys compared to girls for both assessment criteria. The proportion of adolescents with AO (WHtR ≥ 0.5) according to BMI was 17.3%, 80.8% and 97.1% for adolescents with normal, overweight and obesity had AO, respectively. Being male was significantly associated with higher odds of having both general obesity and AO.

The study revealed a high prevalence of general and abdominal obesity in adolescents in Qatar. Waist measures appear to be an important indicator in identifying adolescents at risk and should be included as screening tools for cardiometabolic risk.

Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among young Qatari women is ∼85%. The purpose of the study was to develop a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and to assess the degree of agreement between food vitamin D intakes derived from FFQ and 24-h food recall (24HFR) in young Qatari women.

A vitamin D-centric, 40-item FFQ was developed based on foods consumed in Qatar. In total, 36 Qatari women provided food intakes using FFQ and 24HFR. Vitamin D contents of foods reported in FFQ and 24HFR were computed. Spearman rank correlation was used to evaluate the relation between vitamin D intakes of FFQ and 24HFR. Bland–Altman (BA) plot and quartile comparisons were performed to determine the degree of agreement between food intakes of FFQ and 24HFR.

Median intakes of vitamin D from FFQ were significantly higher compared to the vitamin D content from 24HFR (213 IU vs 126 IU; p < 0.008). Vitamin D intakes were lower with 24HFR when compared with the intakes of FFQ. There was no significant relationship between food vitamin D intake from FFQ and 24HFR (Spearman rho = 0.16; p < 0.35). In cross classification, ∼64% were assigned to the same or adjacent quartiles. As per BA plot, more than 95% food intakes were within the limits of agreement (LOA) (BA index, 2.8%).

There was a moderate agreement between vitamin D intakes and FFQ and 24HFR. 24HFR should be used with caution in assessing the habitual food vitamin D intake because of limited sources of the vitamer in Qatari cuisine. The FFQ is suitable for estimating the food vitamin D intake in young Qatari women.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the prevalence of the risk of overweight and overweight in Qatari children ages 9 through 11 and to compare the prevalence using CDC and IOTF cut‐offs.

A cross‐sectional study in a randomly selected sample of 1,213 Qatari children was carried out. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated for all children. The risk of overweight and overweight were defined using as references both the CDC BMI percentiles for age and gender and IOTF cut‐off values.

Weight, height, and BMI increased with age and differences were significant (p<0.0001). According to the CDC and IOTF references, the overall prevalence of the risk of overweight affected 15.8 and 21.1 per cent respectively, while overweight was prevalent in 21.8 and 17.7 per cent respectively. Using either reference, the prevalence of the risk of overweight was higher among girls compared with boys (22.4 per cent, 19.4 per cent respectively), while overweight was higher among boys than among girls (20.6 per cent, 15.5 per cent respectively) but the differences were not statistically significant for both.

This study focused on children aged 9‐11 years, which represents a transition period between childhood and adolescence. Studying overweight in childhood is important since identification of children who may become obese adults can facilitate early intervention and avoidance of the morbidity and mortality associated with adult obesity. Limited studies on the prevalence of overweight have been conducted in Qatar.