
Jalila El AtiMinistère de la Santé Publique de Tunisie
Jalila El Ati
Professor of University
About
198
Publications
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Introduction
Address: National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, Tunisia
Jalila El Ati is a professor of nutrition and physiology, a researcher on public health nutrition, and the head of the studies and planning department. She is responsible of the Research Laboratory "SURVEN" www.surventunisie.rns.tn. She is a member of the scientific council of the INNTA. She has a research experience of 30 years in three major domains: physiology, nutrition and food sciences.
Additional affiliations
January 1994 - May 2016
Education
September 1972 - June 1986
Publications
Publications (198)
Introduction
Breakfast is widely acknowledged as a crucial meal of the day, particularly for children, owing to its role in supplying essential nutrients and energy necessary for optimal growth and cognitive function. This study aims to examine differences in nutrient intake between breakfast skippers and non-skippers among children.
Methods
A rep...
Food composition data in the Eastern Mediterranean Region countries are often lacking, obsolete, or unreliable. The study aims to provide reliable nutrient data on food products consumed in Oman in order to evaluate their nutritional quality, the consistency of the nutrition labeling and claims, and, ultimately, the use for food consumption surveys...
Summary
Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We
estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from
1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories.
Methods We used data...
Food composition data in the EMR countries are often lacking, obsolete or unreliable. The study aims to provide reliable and up-to-date nutrient data of selected food products consumed in Oman in order to evaluate consistency of nutrition labelling and update the current used food composition database. Contents of total fat, fatty acids, carbohydra...
Objective
Food environments are a major determinant of children’s nutritional status. Scarce evidence on food environments exists in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aims to fill this gap by documenting the obesogenicity of food environments around schools in Greater Tunis, Tunisia – an LMIC of the Middle East and North Africa re...
Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and de...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most healthcare professionals switched from face-to-face clinical encounters to telehealth. This study sought to investigate the dietitians’ perceptions and practices toward the use of social/mass media platforms amid the transition from face-to-face to telenutrition in the time of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study...
Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong
health and well-being1–6
. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with
measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height
and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis
of rural an...
Children’s dietary habits are influenced by complex factors within their home, school and neighborhood environments. Identifying such influencers and assessing their effects is traditionally based on self-reported data which can be prone to recall bias. We developed a culturally acceptable machine-learning-based data-collection system to objectivel...
Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. This study aimed to assess breakfast frequency and quality in Tunisian children and to determine the relationship between breakfast skipping and the weight status of the children. A total of 1200 preschool and school children aged 3 to 9 years were randomly selected under a cross-sectional...
Evidence on what people eat globally is limited in scope and rigour, especially as it relates to children and adolescents. This impairs target setting and investment in evidence-based actions to support healthy sustainable diets. Here we quantified global, regional and national dietary patterns among children and adults, by age group, sex, educatio...
The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a plant-based diet associated with a reduction in the risk of developing COVID-19 comorbidities. Lockdown instigation during the COVID-19 pandemic has affected eating habits and lifestyles, highlighting the need to analyze the healthiness of new consumption patterns. We conducted a survey to assess lifestyle change in...
Background
In the context of the rapid nutrition transition experienced by middle-income countries of the Arab region, children and adolescent’s food choices and dietary behaviors are early risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases. Assessment of factors influencing food choices among this age group is challenging and is usually...
Tunisia recorded the highest rate of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths in Africa but no studies assessed the impact of the pandemic on eating patterns as in the case of several countries. The objective of the present study was to investigate the perception of changes in food habits, appetite and body weight in Tunisian adults of both genders aged...
(1) Background: Diabetic patients must engage in self-care practices in order to maintain optimal glycemic control, hence reducing the likelihood of developing complications, and enhance the overall quality of their lives. The Diabetes Self-care Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) is a tool for assessing self-management habits that may be used to predi...
This paper examines the complex relations between farm, household and individual characteristics with the food insecurity of women living in the rural area of Sidi Bouzid, cradle of the 2010 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. According to the Individual Food Insecurity Index and based on a survey of 290 women living in farming households, more than 40%...
In the context of studies on the effects of agricultural production diversity, there are debates in the scientific community as to the level of diversification appropriate for improving dietary diversity. In Tunisia, agriculture is a strategic sector for the economy and a critical pillar of its food sovereignty. Using instrumental variable methods...
Excessive fat and fatty acids intake are associated with significant health hazards such as obesity or chronic diseases. This study aimed to provide the first data on total fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (TFA) intakes and their major food sources in Tunisian children. A total of 1200 children, aged 3 to 9 years old, were ran...
Assessing the healthiness of food items in images has gained attention in both the computer vision and the nutrition fields. However, such task is generally a difficult one as food images are captured in various settings and thus are usually non-homogeneous. Moreover, assessing how healthy a food item is requires nutritional expertise and knowledge...
High intakes of trans fatty acids (TFA), particularly industrially-produced TFA, are implicated in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases, which represent the leading cause of mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). This systematic review aims to document existing national TFA reduction strategies in the EMR, providing an overview of...
Background and aims:
The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of hypertension, along with their sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle associations, were evaluated in a cross-sectional survey of childbearing age Tunisian women. Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score was also assessed for hypertensive versus no...
Excessive intake of fat and fatty acids is associated with major health hazards such as obesity or chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to provide the first data on total fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (TFA) intakes and their major food sources in Tunisian children. A total of 1200 children, aged 3 to 9 years old (yo)...
High intakes of trans fatty acids (TFA), particularly industrially-produced TFA, are implicated in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases, which represent the leading cause of mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). This systematic review aims to document existing national TFA reduction strategies in the EMR, providing an overview of...
Background
Despite the widely published international guidelines for a better implementation of health policies promoting healthy eating habits; the epidemiological situation regarding most weighing heavily non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on global health, is still alarming. We aimed to analyze Tunisian health policies targeting trans fatty acids...
Background
Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories.
Methods
We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30...
Aim:
This study explored the association between the diet diversity score (DDS) and overweight among Tunisian children.
Methods:
A representative sample of children living in Greater Tunis was selected based on a two-stage clustered sampling design. A total of 1200 children (3-9 years) were recruited. Dietary assessment was realized using a 24 h...
The protective role of high high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) against cardiovascular risk has been questioned recently. Due to the increasing trend of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Tunisia, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of high HDL-C and its associated factors in Tunisian women of childbearing age. A cross-sectional sur...
The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is experiencing a nutrition transition, characterized by the emergence of overnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies. No previous study has comparatively examined nutrient intake in adults across countries in the EMR. This review examined the adequacy of nutrients in adults living in the EMR. Moreover, it a...
Objectives
Non-communicable diseases have increased in Tunisia after the epidemiological transition. That is why the national strategy to prevent and control obesity was elaborated and implemented. Improving the quality of foods is one axis of this strategy. The purpose of this paper was to estimate and evaluate the nutritional profiles of Tunisian...
From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...
From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...
The prevention and management of hypertension are untimely associated with a lowering of sodium intake. The present study aimed to evaluate the sodium and potassium intake levels of Tunisian population through measurement of 24‐hr urinary sodium excretions. A randomly, multistage, cross‐sectional study was conducted in an urban region (Bizerte) in...
As bread is the most consumed food by the Tunisian population and the major source of salt, a pilot experiment of salt reduction in bread was begun in Bizerte city. Salt analysis in bread collected from Bizerte city was done with the Volhard titration method. A one-way Anova test was carried out to assess salt content changes over time. Application...
Background: The protective role of high HDL-C against cardiovascular risk has been questioned recently. Due to the increasing trend of CVD in Tunisia, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of high HDL-C and its associated factors in childbearing age Tunisian women.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a subsample of 1689 wom...
Background: In the last decades, Tunisia has undergone major demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle (including diet) changes, with drastic increases in excess adiposity and nutrition related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This review provides an update of the nutritional situation in Tunisia. Methods: Several Tunisian datasets or internationa...
Background: The protective role of high HDL-C against cardiovascular risk has been questioned recently. Due to the increasing trend of CVD in Tunisia, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of high HDL-C and its associated factors in childbearing age Tunisian women.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a subsample of 1689 wom...
Background: In the last decades, Tunisia has undergone major demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle (including diet) changes, with drastic increases in excess adiposity and nutrition related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This review provides an update of the nutritional situation in Tunisia. Methods: Several Tunisian datasets or internationa...
Background
Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents.
Methods
For this pooled ana...
Background: Excessive intake of fat and fatty acids is associated with major health hazards such as obesity or chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to provide the first data on total fat, SFA and TFA intakes and their major food sources in Tunisian children.
Methods: A total of 1200 children, aged 3 to 9 years old, were randomly selected from...
Background In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, universal salt iodization (USI) programs defaults were sometimes shown to increase the risk of iodine excess. Also, the nutrition transition which underlies the obesity epidemic in the MENA region is characterized by salt-rich diets, so that there could be a cumulative effect with respec...
Introduction: The Middle East and North Africa region features marked gender excess adiposity inequalities detrimental to women in a context of nutrition transition with major shifts in lifestyle and diet. We assessed gender inequalities in dietary intake with a focus on diet quality. Sociodemographic patterning of these gender dietary inequalities...
High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world³ and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein...
Objectives
In North Africa, due to the rapid nutrition transition, the within-subject double burden of excess adiposity and anemia or iron deficiency (ID) is prevalent, especially among women. Contrasted hypotheses on iron content of the nutrition transition high energy diets could result in either aggravating or protective co-ocurrence. We studied...
Objectives
Children's food choices are influenced by school, family and community environments; but obesogenic exposures in these environments are difficult to measure. Innovative tools such as wearable cameras are being developed to quantify children's exposures to such factors. We aimed to assess the features required and acceptability of these t...
It is well established that obesity is associated with an increased risk of elevated and high blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents. However, it is uncertain whether there is an increase in the risk of elevated and high BP associated with an increase of body mass index (BMI) among children and adolescents whose BMI is in the accepted norm...
Tunisia is a North African country located between Algeria and Libya with a population of about eleven million inhabitants of which about two third live in urban areas. The first national cross-sectional assessment was conducted in 1973-75 among 9940 individuals from all age classes, and revealed that the goiter rate was 9.3% in the inland mountain...
According to the Tunisian standards (25-45 ppm of potassium iodate), only 55.8% of consumed salt was adequately iodized and an excess of iodine was found in 22.4% of samples. However, based on the international cut-off of 15 ppm, 78.2% of households were found to use adequate iodized salt: this was found to be relatively stable along the distributi...
We assessed the technical content of sugar, salt and trans-fats policies in six countries in relation to the World Health Organization 'Best Buys' guidelines for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). National research teams identified policies and strategies related to promoting healthy diets and restricting unhealthy cons...
Objective
To identify wild plants used as food and assess their frequency of consumption over a year in a region of Tunisia where agriculture is undergoing a major transformation from smallholder farming to an intensive high-input agricultural system.
Design
Qualitative ethnobotanical study followed by a survey of women’s frequency of consumption...
In 2017, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated the clinical practice guideline for high blood pressure (BP) in the pediatric population. In this study, we compared the difference in prevalence of elevated and hypertensive BP values defined by the 2017 AAP guideline and the 2004 Fourth Report and estimated the cardiovascular risk associat...
Tunisia is a typical country of the Mediterranean region where high prevalence of overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases co-exist with some micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related environmental issues must be addressed. Individual food choices may influence both health and environment. The aim of this study was to identify diets tha...
Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in
parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in
cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is
one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3–6.
Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements
of height and...
These countries include Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia and Tunisia. All these countries are also Arab states, and share cross-cutting cultural values by the common language “Arabic” and long history of Islamic influence. These North African countries are categorized by World Health Organization (WHO) as the Eastern Mediterranean re...
Abstract Background In a context of nutrition transition and major shifts in lifestyle and diet, the Middle East and North Africa features a marked gender excess adiposity gap detrimental to women. In this setting, where gender issues are especially acute, we investigated gender differences in dietary intake with a focus on diet quality, and how th...
Discipline
Épidémiologie.
Introduction et but de l’étude
La région Afrique du Nord et Moyen Orient présente parmi les prévalences d’obésité les plus élevées au monde, et les femmes y sont beaucoup plus touchées que les hommes. Aussi, ce contexte de transition nutritionnelle est caractérisé par des changements majeurs dans les modes de vie et le ré...
Despite the rich biodiversity of the African continent and the tremendous progress so far made in food production, Africa is still struggling with the problems of food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition. To combat these problems, the production and consumption of nutritious and safe foods need to be promoted. This cannot be achieved without reliab...