DUBAI - Urging fast-food chains to serve smaller portions and with more
green salads is among the Ministry of Health’s strategies to tackle the rising
incidence of obesity in the UAE, said a senior health official on February 13.
Dr Huda Al Suwaidi, Family Medicine Consultant for the MoH, who is also heading
the ministry’s committee that is chalking out strategies to combat obesity,
said, “We are also continuing talks with fast-food manufacturing companies and
selling outlets and suggesting to them to provide dietary information to the
consumers.”
The MoH had initiated talks with fast food outlets last year regarding serving
healthy food.
“People have to initially learn about calories, and only then they will realise
the importance of healthy eating,” she explained.
Other strategies, which would be implemented in a couple of months, included
raising awareness of healthy eating habits among schoolchildren and their
parents.
Schools in Dubai have already banned sale of fast food items in canteens as per
the MoH recommendations.
“The other emirates are expected to follow suit soon as all strategies formed
are applicable uniformly,” she added.
Meanwhile, ‘Join the Movement’, a public initiative supported by the MoH, is
being launched on February 22 at Zabeel Park to halt and help reverse the rise
in cases of obesity in the UAE.
Join the Movement chairperson Dr Suhair Aqil said, “Obesity is one of the main
health burdens in the UAE and it is largely determined by environmental and
lifestyle factors.”
Rana Shehadeh, clinical dietitian at the Advanced Nutrition Centre, said, “In
the UAE, we consume more of calorie-dense foods, foods that are high in fats,
high in simple sugars, low in complex carbohydrates and fibres. All combined
with a very low level of activity has resulted in a rise in the prevalence of
obesity and diabetes or ‘diabesity’ (a newly coined word) in the country.”
According to the recently published statistics by the World Health Organisation,
obesity is on the rise across all ethnic groups in the UAE, and the increase is
particularly severe among UAE nationals.‘ According to the figures, 73 per cent
of women and 66 per cent of men in the country are overweight. As a result, the
UAE ranks fourth most obese country in the world preceded by the US, Turkey,
Mexico and Egypt.
