Overweight and Obesity in Lebanon Infographics
Obesity and overweight is not only increasing worldwide but also in Lebanon [1]. In particular, 49.4% of the adult women suffer from an overweight while 14.3% of them struggle with obesity in Lebanon [1]. Hence, this imposes severe metabolic and cardiovascular diseases [1]. This paper will discuss the overweight and obesity problem by interpreting the following 3 charts represented in Figure 1 and highlighting how these graphs visualize the data and make the topic clear.
The overall success of the design relies on the effective standpoint used to communicate the three different aspects of overweight and obesity problem in Lebanon: age, year, and gender. The context was made explicit by linking 2 parameters in each chart and analyzing, for example, how the overweight and obesity were varying for both male (in green) and female (in purple) with time as represented in Figure 2. It was clear that there is an upward trend for both genders. However, one aspect could have been added so a clearer understanding of the demographic distribution of these cases could be achieved; It is the percentage of overweight and obese persons per region: Mount Lebanon, Beirut, etc. to take into account any geographical factor such as the food availability, pollution, poverty, etc. Hence, analyzing these charts, researchers and doctors can have clearer idea about the expected cases in Lebanon in order to come up with more specific ways to treat this problem.
This data visualization was able to display the growing ideological of overweight and obesity by showing the upward trend curve and the distribution of these cases according to age and gender. These simple charts deliver the appropriate idea in a clearer way than words.
Many factors helped to make the severity of this problem clear especially for a certain group of people (e.g. 60% of the people aging between 35 and 60 years old suffer from overweight and obesity as represented in Figure 2, by the age of 25–29, more than 50% of the males are facing this problem while less than 40% of the females of the same age range are facing the same problem as deduced in in Figure 4, etc.) which would contribute to better framing and treating this issue. For instance, the credibility of the data source mentioned at the bottom of each graph along with the date of the release reflects a better understanding of the timeframe (June 2017) of the study and the data source. Moreover, the indicators of measurement which can be translated into data related to overweight and obesity for each age, sex, and year were derived from reports, surveys, and published studies. They treated this problem by addressing to the height and weight through self-reports and physical measurements [2]. In case of bias in self-reports, it must be noted that linear regression was used to correct this error in self-reports. Moreover, in order to estimate the prevalence with 95% uncertainty intervals, Gaussian process regression model was used [2]. As for the timeframe, all the data collected are within the 1980 and 2015 timeframe. Moreover, explaining the scale briefly, it is based on the Body Mass Index (BMI) which represents a weight-to-height ratio expressed in kg/m2. A BMI higher than or equal to 25 and less than 30 indicates that the person is overweight. However, a BMI higher than 30 indicates that the person is obese. The type of data was numerical based on reports and measurements and mainly focusing on the height and weight of each person. However, the sample size was not mentioned although it is an important and critical factor to be discussed.
As for the aesthetic, the 2 clear colors that were used are the green for males and the purple for females. They are easily distinguishable and uniform for all the 3 charts. Two of the charts represent a line chart and the third one is a bar chart. All the axes were enumerated which made the charts easily understandable. Moreover, these charts are interactive which made the access to the data of each point easier. All the reader has to do is to put cursor on the target point so he/she get the exact needed data as represented in Figure 3.
In conclusion, the work was effectively constructed based on scientific data to deliver a coherent message to the reader. The charts structure, colors, types, and data seek to present the information in a simple and logic way while avoiding any sophisticated design. The aim of these charts was to illuminate and highlight the severity and rising aspect of the overweight and obesity problem in Lebanon by using this visual presentation.
References
[1] El Hage, R., Bachour, F., Khairallah, W., Bedran, F., Maalouf, N., Zakhem, E., … & Maalouf, G. (2014). The influence of obesity and overweight on hip bone mineral density in Lebanese women. Journal of Clinical Densitometry, 17(1), 216–217.
[2] Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Overweight and Obesity Viz. Seattle, WA: IHME, University of Washington, 2017. Available from http://vizhub.healthdata.org/obesity. (Accessed on Wednesday 28 February 2017).
