The prevalence of obesity in the Middle East is one the highest in the world. It is particularly worrying as obesity is associated with several potentially life-threatening comorbidities which also have a high prevalence in the region, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
A recently published report notes that in the Gulf and Lebanon the provision of obesity care has proved challenging for a number of reasons including: insufficient reimbursement for treatment; a lack of available pharmaceutical options; a heavy reliance on bariatric surgery; a lack of obesity education in medical schools and elsewhere and; in some cases, the lack of formal guidelines and recommendations for the prevention, management and treatment of obesity.
Left unchecked, the projections for the increasing prevalence of obesity and its associated comorbidities in the region are indeed worrying. This prompted the establishment of the Gulf & Lebanon Recommendations Expert Group following a meeting of regional and international clinical and policy experts under the auspices of the World Obesity Federation in Oman in December last year. The key purpose of the expert group was to draw up a set ofrecommendations for the treatment and management of adult obesity in the Gulf and Lebanon.
The Gulf & Lebanon Recommendations Expert Group comprises representatives of Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Their document – Regional Recommendations for the Treatment and Management of Adult Obesity in the Gulf & Lebanon – was published in October by the World Obesity Federation. (See Resources below to download the report.)
It is an important document which should go a significant way to easing the burden obesity by providing clear recommendations and guidelines for the treatment and management of obesity by healthcare workers in the region.
Importantly, it emphasises that our perspective of obesity must change to one in which obesity is viewed as “a chronic, progressive and relapsing disease that is the result of a combination of factors, including genetic susceptibility and environmental influences”.
The authors state: “It is hoped that global recognition of obesity as a disease will not only improve understanding of the complexity of the condition, but alsoprovide impetus for effective public health policy and intervention.”
They note that with the development of these regional recommendations for obesity this could lead to better co-ordinated efforts to improve care for obese individuals in the region.
Clinical care pathways
The recommendations lay out the ideal obesity care pathway for those living with obesity who may desire medical support to live healthier lives. The recommendations are followed by a synopsis of current activities in the represented countries to highlight progress to date and areas for improvement.
Although the recommendations deal specifically with adult (=18 years) obesity, they do acknowledge the importance of managing childhood obesity and say they “hope that we will be able to extend the recommendations to children and adolescents in the future”.
Without going into the detail of the recommendations – you should download the document for this – the recommendations make use of the Edmonton Obesity Staging System which provides a framework for clinical decision-making, prioritisation and management and can roughlydetermine the healthcare level at which a patient may require treatment: primary, secondary, or tertiary care level.
The recommendations also make use of an adaptation the 5 A’s Model to assist patients with behavioural change throughout the course of their obesity care.
Further to the clinical pathways recommended for primary, secondary and tertiary care, the authors note that “these recommendations may not be applicable to all existing healthcare systems in the region and so it is recommended that all countries have local workshops to tailor these recommendations based on national context. They suggest that at a national level, discussions should consider the following:
- Current healthcare coverage for all obesity treatments and the steps required to ensure full coverage (the “reimbursement strategy”)
- Availability of basic and specialist obesity training for health professionals
- The availability of anti-obesity medications in-country and how this can be improved
- How to improve the provision of obesity care at primary care level
- Provision of care in public vs private sector
- Existing in-country guidelines and what these recommendations mean for them
Training
The report also highlights the critical need for the recommendations to be supplemented by frequent basic and specialist obesity care training for healthcare professionals.
For basic training the authors note that it should cover the basic science of obesity, its multiple causes, and the fundamentals of obesity prevention and management. On completion of this training, all health professionals should be able to give basic advice on achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and be competent in assessing, diagnosing and addressing obesity. They should also be comfortable recognising common comorbidities and complications.
Additionally, they add that “primary care staff should receive specialised training that emphasises the key role primary care plays in obesity prevention and early treatment” – and point out that this is essential to prevent patients reaching secondary and tertiary level care without having had standard assessments and prior support.
The authors note: “It is crucial that primary care staff receive training on weight maintenance and relapse prevention so that they can support patients who are referred back from tertiary and secondary care.”
Regarding specialist obesity training, the report points out that it is crucial that all specialist obesity training covers: how and why the complexity of obesity as a disease may result in failure to lose weight at primary and secondary care, how to address comorbidities while seeking weight loss, and the importance of an obesity multidisciplinary team.
Obesity prevention
Although the report does not focus on the prevention of obesity, the authors say the omittance of prevention in the report “does not reflect an underestimation of the important role prevention plays. Rather, it was agreed that a report on prevention required a more multi-sectoral and multistakeholder expert group.”
They referred to the existence of the recently published WHO Eastern Mediterranean ‘Regional framework for action on obesity prevention 2019- 2023’ as a document that provides guidance to the region on best practice.
Resources
Regional Recommendations for the Treatment and Management of Adult Obesity in the Gulf & Lebanon
https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/gulf-lebanon-regional-recommendations
Regional framework for action on obesity prevention 2019- 2023
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/325833 
