Research Interest

The prevalence of obesity increases dramatically worldwide, environmental factors rather than genetics have been suggested as a major cause of obesity.
The environmental factors can be divided into 2 subgroups: energy intake (food intake) and energy expenditure (physical activity).
Food intake is composed of two parts, the quantity of the food and the quality of the food (nutrients, and mainly macronutrients, especially fat). Obesity is a major threat to the public health. Obesity may lead to a number of health problems affecting many systems in the human body, as well as psychological and economic problems. There is a direct association between weight, obesity and several diseases. These include type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), dyslipidemia, hypertension and cancer such as breast cancer. The primary goal of my research program is to:

1. Estimate the amount of food intake and its component of carbohydrate, protein and fat in order to calculate the energy intake which has an effect on weight gain.

2. Evaluation of the quality and quantity of diets offered to diabetic patients. The main goal of this investigation is to pinpoint the amount and the type of nutrients offered to diabetic patients and its effect on weight and glycemic control.

3. Estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among different age groups especially children and adolescents; it aims at highlight the risk factors and finds the appropriate dietary intervention program

4. Examine the relationship between obesity, lipid profile and blood pressure, and to quantify the risk of coronary heart disease. The chief goal is find an appropriate dietary intervention program to overcome the problems of obesity, hypertension and impaired lipid profile.

5. Study the modifiable lifestyle risk factors of breast cancer such as obesity, physical activity, and smoking. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to highlight the risk factors that contribute to decrease the incidence of breast cancer and to better management of the disease