A 4-year Retrospective Study on the Impact of the Dietary Program on Anthropometric and Metabolic Parameters among Overweight and Obese Subjects in Primary Health Care Centers in Qatar

Abstract

Aim. Obesity is a worldwide epidemic and one of the risk factors for many diseases including heart disease, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, and cancer. The aim of this study was to review the impact of the local dietary program on anthropometric and metabolic parameters among overweight and obese subjects attending Primary Health Care Centers in Qatar from 2016 to 2019. Methods. A 4-year retrospective cohort study. Results. Among 10451 patients, the overall success rate of BMI reduction was 10% while 22.22% of population had ≥5% reduction in BMI from baseline. The median time for weight reduction was 3.2 years, with women showing earlier significant weight loss than men. The patients with 3–5 number of visits had earlier significant weight reduction than those with ≤3 visits and >5 number of visits. Greater weight reduction was seen in those with chronic diseases and who had constant follow up visits in the dietetic clinic during the study period. Conclusion. Our results are encouraging, showing improvement in the management of adult obesity with medical nutrition therapy through involvement and guidance in the community dietetic clinics. The dietetic clinic services could be an operative strategy to prevent expensive diabetic and cardiovascular events, mainly in high-risk patients.