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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 7, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Obes Weight Loss Ther
ISSN: 2165-7904 JOWT, an open access journal
Obesity Meeting 2017
October 23-24, 2017
October 23-24, 2017 Dubai, UAE
14
th
Global Obesity Meeting
A review of a holistic health intervention for improving the health status of obese national service
recruits
Deborah Allen, Gareth Picknell, Kirstie Lawton, Graham Nicholson and Mouza Al Shehhi
UAE Armed Forces, UAE
A
systematic analysis of global obesity estimated the UAE’s obesity prevalence at 12.2% for males less than 20 years of age
and 27.1% for males aged 20 years and above. More recently, evidence has suggested that obesity rates of school children
in the UAE are also rising at an alarming rate and that these increases are likely to continue into early adulthood. Given these
trends and considering that national service is compulsory, it is not surprising that up to 30.0% of males enrolling into their
military service are considered obese. In attempts to reduce this figure and to provide holistic support to these individuals,
national service implemented health centers that aid the streamlining of recruits into tailored programs that include specific
dietary, physical training and educational elements. National service recruits (age: 22.4±4.4 years, n=5749) with a Body Mass
Index (BMI)>30.0 kgm
2
had their anthropometry measures taken at the beginning and end of initial training. Over the course
of a 15 week period significant changes were noted for their body mass (T1=110.7±17.7, T2=94.2±15.19 kg; t=222.1, P<.001),
BMI (T1=37.3±5.3, T2=37.8±4.6 kgm
2
; t=230.3, P<.001) and waist-to-height ratio (T1=0.66±0.07, T2=0.57±0.77 waist (cm)/
height (cm)) t=131.8, P<.001).
Biography
Deborah Allen has been working as the Head of Dietetics for the UAE Armed Forces within the Physical Readiness Department since 2008 and is currently heading
the Nutrition and Dietetic program for the UAE Armed Forces National Service. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Sport Science and Biology and
Master’s degree in Human Nutrition and a PG Diploma in Dietetics. She has worked for renowned academic institutions including Deakin University, Australia and
Trinity College, Dublin where she has been involved in a number of international research projects.
deborah.uae@gmail.comDeborah Allen et al., J Obes Weight Loss Ther 2017, 7:6 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7904-C1-051