Hail Lifestyle Medicine consensus position statement as a Medical specialty: Middle Eastern perspective

Alqurashi, Alaa; Alrajhi, Saleh; Konswa, Ayman; Alhamdi, Nisreen; Farhan, Alshammari; Alraddadi, Rajaa; Alfuhaid, Hani; Albattal, Saad; Alsgaih, Norah; Alnias, Mishaal; Kunonga, Edward; Latif, Samia; Taginawa, Sley; Tariq, Rabbanie; Albishri, Talal; Alrasadi, Khalid

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1455871

PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health Policy

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1455871

Hail Lifestyle Medicine consensus position statement as a Medical specialty: Middle Eastern perspective

Provisionally accepted

Saleh Alrajhi ³

Alshammari Farhan ⁶

Hani Alfuhaid ⁸

Saad Albattal ⁶

Norah Alsgaih ⁶

Mishaal Alnias ⁶

Edward Kunonga ⁹

Samia Latif ¹⁰

Sley Taginawa ¹¹

Rabbanie Tariq ¹²

Talal Albishri ¹³

Khalid Alrasadi ¹⁴

¹ Gulf Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
² Gulf Health Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³ Research Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁴ Prince Sultan Military Medical City, As Sulimaniyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁵ King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
⁶ University of Hail, Ha'il, Hail, Saudi Arabia
⁷ King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
⁸ Qassim University, Ar Rass, Saudi Arabia
⁹ National Institute Of Health and Care Research,Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria, Newcastle, United Kingdom
¹⁰ UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), London, United Kingdom
¹¹ American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), Chesterfield, Missouri, United States
¹² Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
¹³ Umm al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
¹⁴ Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Lifestyle choices are often the main causes of preventable chronic diseases (NCDs) seen globally in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Research has shown that lifestyle medicine interventions can significantly improve and even reverse these conditions.While there is international consensus on the 15 core competencies, the 6 pillars, and the definition of Lifestyle Medicine (LM) established by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, these pillars may not fully meet the diverse needs of individuals and populations. The application of Lifestyle Medicine is influenced by local factors such as legislation, culinary habits, economic status, agricultural development, health systems, and community resources.The MENA region has a notably high prevalence of lifestyle-related NCDs, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and various cancers. This underscores the need to consider the local context—encompassing culture, traditions, and beliefs—which impact lifestyle choices and health outcomes.The Hail Lifestyle Medicine International Conferences in 2022 and 2023 highlighted the importance of defining Lifestyle Medicine's scope in the MENA region, especially in Saudi Arabia, in light of local healthcare transformation and community needs. These conferences facilitated collaboration among experts to address the region's unique health challenges. Additionally, mentioning the establishment of a technical working group for the MENA region in the background or methods section of the paper will help readers understand how the adaptation of the LM pillars was initially conceived

Keywords: SALM-CM®: Saudi Arabia, LM conferencing model, Hail Lifestyle Medicine consensus, lifestyle medicine, DAS EMR®: Digital AlAfiah system Electronic health record, MENA: Middle eastern and north African countries, DAS®: Digital AlAfiah system

Received: 27 Jun 2024; Accepted: 05 Feb 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Alqurashi, Alrajhi, Konswa, Alhamdi, Farhan, Alraddadi, Alfuhaid, Albattal, Alsgaih, Alnias, Kunonga, Latif, Taginawa, Tariq, Albishri and Alrasadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Alaa Alqurashi, Gulf Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Riyadh, 11462, Saudi Arabia

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