According to World Health Organization, the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) refers to all Arab countries, excluding Algeria, in addition to Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. These countries have faced marked changes in their demographic, socioeconomic, and health status during the last thirty years. These changes have been reflected in changes in the lifestyle of the population including access to modern amenities. The lifestyle changes have affected levels of physical activity and have also included introduction of a range of processed foods. New foods and food ingredients have been introduced to the diet in this region to varying extents. Similar to populations in many developing countries, the populations of EMR countries are experiencing a nutrition transition characterized by replacement of traditional diets with diets higher in fat, refined sugar, and processed foods. These changes in dietary patterns and lifestyles have been associated with high prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, and osteoporosis in the EMR countries. Potential topics many include, but are not limited to the following:

• Change in dietary and lifestyle habits and the risk of chronic diseases
• Inactivity and physical activity
• Prevalence and factors associated with diet-related chronic disease
• Diet, lifestyle, and obesity, especially among children and adolescents
• The role of television and other mass media in changing lifestyle and diet
• Metabolic syndrome
• Health impact of westernization of diet and lifestyle

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