Diabetes and obesity in the eastern Morocco

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ramdani, Noureddine^a | Vanderpas, Jean^b | Boutayeb, Abdeslam^c | Meziane, Abdelouafi^d | Hassani, Benyounès^e | Zoheir, Jaouhar^f | Legssyer, Abdelkhaleq^a | Aziz, Mohammed^a | Mekhfi, Hassane^a | Bnouham, Mohammed^a | Ziyyat, Abderrahim^a

Affiliations: [a] Laboratoire de Physiologie et Ethnopharmacologie, Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Mohamed Premier, B.P. 717, Boulevard Mohamed VI, 60000 Oujda, Maroc. e-mail: ziyyat@yahoo.fr | [b] Medical Microbiology Laboratory, Communicable and Infectious Diseases, Institut Scientifique de Santé Publique, Rue Engeland 642, 1180 Bruxelles, Belgium | [c] Laboratoire de modélisation stochastique et déterministe, Fac. Sciences, Univ Mohammed I, Oujda, Maroc | [d] Laboratoire d'Arithmétique, calcul scientifique et leurs applications, départ. Mathématiques et Informatique, Fac. Sciences, Univ Mohammed I, Oujda, Maroc | [e] Médecin endocrinologue diabétologue, Bd. Mohamed Abdou Imm. Sâada 1er étage, Oujda, Maroc | [f] Laboratoire d'analyses médicales, Place 16 Aôut Angle Rue Sidi Brahim, Oujda, Maroc

Abstract: The objective of this research is to describe the current situation (frequencies) of obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) and their relationship in Oujda capital of eastern Morocco and its regions, and to investigate the influences of milieu, sex and age. A sample of 1,628 individuals at least 40 years old was formed by voluntary participation using convenience sampling through 26 campaigns in urban and rural areas in late 2008. The proportion in the total sample was globally 10.2% for DM, 8.1% for impaired fasting glucose (IFG), 25.1% for obesity and 40.3% for overweight. The relative frequency of DM was slightly higher in women than in men (10.7% vs. 9.3%, not significant (NS)); for IFG it was respectively 8.7% versus 7.01% (NS). The relative frequency of DM was 1.34 times higher in urban (10.9%) than in rural areas (7.9%, P < 0.05). It was also more elevated in obese subjects (15.9%) than in normal ones (9.7%, P < 0.001). Obesity proportion was markedly greater in women (32.7%) than in men (11.5%, P < 0.001). Obesity and overweight were more frequent in urban populations than in rural ones. In conclusion, our results show an alarming increasing trend in the current situation and frequencies of DM, obesity and overweight in the capital of eastern Morocco and its regions, especially for women in urban area.

Keywords: Diabetes, Impaired fasting glucose, Obesity, Overweight, Eastern Morocco

DOI: 10.3233/s12349-011-0087-2

Journal: Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 149-155, 2012