UA News

Sarah Trainer has earned a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct a study on health among women in Dubai.

Sarah Trainer, who has long been interested in health disparities, particularly the health of people in the Middle East, is bound for the United Arab Emirates to conduct a year-long research project on women.

A University of Arizona graduate student in the anthropology program, Trainer is one of the most recent UA students to receive a Fulbright Fellowship, a highly competitive fellowship sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Department  and administered by the Institute of International Education, or IIE.

The IIE, an independent nonprofit organization, funds student research in countries around the world. The fellowship, and other funding she has received, will take her to Dubai, where she will investigate instances of obesity and type 2 diabetes among Emirati women.

Trainer is among eight UA students to have been awarded IIE Fulbright Fellowships this year, said Karna Walter, director of nationally competitive scholarships at the UA's Honors College.

Walter said most students will begin their projects either this month or next, though some students won't begin their research until March.

Victoria Phaneuf, a graduate student in the cultural anthropology program, was also recently awarded a fellowship through the nonprofit. Phaneuf will study the influence of North African cultural associations in France and ways people use such organizations to form identities and negotiate inter-group relations. 

Phaneuf, also editor-in-chief for Arizona Anthropologist, is also studying the impact of the shipbuilding and fabrication industries along the Gulf of Mexico.

Trainer's project is titled "Women's Perspectives on Diabetes and Obesity in the United Arab Emirates," and she will be centering her work in Dubai.

Her interest is in medical anthropology and as part of her research intends to interview 100 women during the year she intends to spend in the United Arab Emirates.

"We're beginning to see this huge increase in chronic disease in the Middle East and it's becoming more and more of a problem," said Trainer, who also received a $15,000 National Science Foundation grant for her research.    

Trainer noted that the region is experiencing a number of new challenges related to changes in diet and lifestyle, some of which are specific to particular groups of people living in the Arab Gulf. One reason for this is the accelerated rate of development in the region in the last two decades, Trainer noted.

She intends for her research to bring about a greater understanding of why these changes are happening, where and how people are – or are not – working to counter them.

She will also be investigating social changes among women, gender-based role ideals, the availability of fast food and issues related to body image.

Trainer said that while most studies have tended to focus on clinical aspects, she will be taking an ethnographic approach.

"I am interested in what people are eating now and what the differences are," said Trainer, who leaves for Dubai later this month.

"This is a very interesting time to be there and to look at the issue of food," said Trainer, who will be in Dubai during Ramadan. "And it will be interesting to look at what people are thinking about and talking about."