obesity reviews © 2005 The International Association for the Study of Obesity. obesity reviews 6, 115–116 115 Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKOBRobesity reviews1467-78812004 The International Association for the Study of Obesity. 6 115116Review ArticlePrevalence of obesity in Israel D. Nitzan Kaluski & E. M. Berry Address reprint requests to: EM Berry, Department of Human Nutrition and Metabolism, Braun School of Public Health, Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail: berry@md.huji.ac.il National Prevalence of Obesity Prevalence of obesity in Israel D. Nitzan Kaluski 1 and E. M. Berry 2 1 Food & Nutrition Administration, Ministry of Health, Israel and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; 2 Department of Human Nutrition and Metabolism, Braun School of Public Health, Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel Received 18 August 2004; revised 28 September 2004; accepted 4 October 2004 Summary Israel is a multiethnic society and offers an ongoing ‘experiment’ concerning the cultural determinants of obesity. The First Israeli National Health and Nutrition Survey 1999–2001 (MABAT) measured a representative population of 2782 adults (49% men) aged 25–64 years (mean 43 years); it showed a prevalence of overweight in 39.3% and obesity in 22.9%. Overweight is more common in men and obesity is more prevalent in women; the Israeli Arab population is more obese than the Jewish one. Introduction Although situated in the Middle East, Israel is geo- politically more aligned to Western Europe with regard to eating and exercise habits and the effects of socio-economic status on the prevalence of obesity. Israel is a multiethnic society and is a living ‘laboratory’ in which to study the cultural determinants of obesity. Source of data Data on obesity has been collected from a cross-sectional study, the First Israeli National Health and Nutrition Sur- vey 1999–2001 (MABAT) (1), on a representative popula- tion sample of 2782 adults (1371 men and 1411 women) aged 25–64 years (mean 43 years). Anthropometric mea- surements were performed twice. Height and weight were measured without shoes. Height was measured using a coil- spring tape measure and a fixed aluminium angle was placed on the wall to mark the top of the head. If two measurements differed by > 0.4 cm, a third measurement was taken. Weight was measured using portable analogue scales (maximum measurement 130 kg, level of accuracy 0.5 kg) placed on a non-carpeted floor. If measurements differed by > 1 kg, a third measurement was taken. Socio- economic status (SES) was assessed by education and income level. Results Age-adjusted percentages for the distribution of body mass index (BMI) kg m -2 and elevated waist : hip ratio by sex and population group are shown in Table 1. The mean values for BMI were 27.1 (SD 5.5) for women and 26.8 (SD 3.9) for men. Values for BMI > 25 kg m -2 increase with age in both sexes and population groups. With regard to overweight (BMI 25.1–29.9 kg m -2 ) there were no differ- ences between the populations, while men were heavier than women at each age group. For obesity (BMI > 30 kg m -2 ) this picture was reversed especially among obesity reviews (2005) 6, 115–116