Physical activity patterns and eating habits of adolescents living in major Arab cities. The Arab Teens Lifestyle Study.

During recent decades, almost all major cities in the Arab countries have witnessed dramatic lifestyle changes. This is mainly due to rapid urbanization, crowded population, availability of high-fats and dense-caloric foods, propagated satellite TV, increased reliance on computer and telecommunication technology, and decreased occupational-work demands. These enormous lifestyle changes have considerable negative impacts on societal health. In fact, such lifestyle transformation was thought to be greatly responsible for the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases along with their complications in this part of the world. According to the World Health Organization, the most important risk factors of non-communicable diseases in the Arab countries included high blood pressure, high concentrations of cholesterol in the blood, inadequate intake of fruit and vegetables, overweight or obesity, physical inactivity and tobacco use. Five of these risks are closely related to improper diet and physical inactivity.