JEDDAH: A conference on nutrition and obesity which opened in Jeddah Sunday warned of increasing obesity and related illnesses in the Kingdom and the Gulf. Participants urged a rethink of health sector preventive programs and of how to involve individuals in promoting health awareness and avoiding bad eating habits which lead to weight gain. The conference, which was being held at the behest of the Ministry of Health and involved doctors from Bahrain, heard Abdul Rahman Musaiqir, a nutrition specialist and head of the Arab Center for Nutrition in Bahrain, describe Gulf society as “suffering from a rise in obesity, particularly in women”, a problem that he said was partly disguised by the traditional black female over-garment worn in the Gulf. “The abaya serves to hide the extent of obesity in Gulf women,” he said. “In the same way, the male thobe garment also hides men's bellies.” According to Dr. Musaiqir, obesity has become one of the most troubling problems in the Arab world, with between 15 and 45 percent of teenagers and between 35 and 70 percent of adults suffering from it. “Eating food with high calorie content and a lack of physical activity are some of the most significant causes of the spread of obesity in the Arab World,” Musaiqir said. “But there are other factors with a close connection to obesity, such as eating out, watching television and being easily influenced by television advertisements.” He added that psychological and social factors also have a part to play in rising obesity, along with erroneous beliefs concerning weight loss and a lack of easy access to activities entailing physical exercise and sport for women. “Women in general suffer more than men in Arab societies in terms of being able to follow proper weight loss programs,” he said. A family medicine consultant from King Abdul Aziz Medical City gave the conference a lecture on overeating and stressed the threat posed by obesity to the heart, kidneys, the respiratory system and other organs of the body, while a nutrition specialist from Qassim University spoke on the importance of planning meals and following a balanced diet designed to suit the particular health needs of the person in question, saying that meals should contain the required amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water, but without excess. The conference had opened with a speaech from the secretary general of the Saudi Society for Family Medicine Dr. Khalid Bawakid in which he spoke of a “horrific rise in chronic diseases in recent years across the globe but particularly in the Arab World and the Gulf”. “There have been sharp rises in diabetes and obesity and other issues of health concern, all of which reflects a lack of both awareness and proper health-conscious behavior,” he said. “The conference this year focuses on healthy and proper nutritional behavior and the problems resulting from a lack of health awareness, as well as assessing and making known the extent of obesity and weight gain in adults.”
