50% of people in the Gulf are overweight: WHO -Arab News

QUOTE. MANAMA, 14 July 2004 — Studies by the World Health Organization show that over 50 percent of people in the Gulf are overweight or obese, caused by lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyles and poor eating habits.

High levels of obesity exist particularly among women, but often men too, in many countries as diverse as Egypt and the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia.

Obesity rates of 25-30 percent and even higher are typical in Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE. Bahraini girls are among the heaviest in the world. Only one in 10 Bahraini women admits to exercising regularly. According to the Bahrain Center for Studies and Research, the rapid rise in living standards is to blame. Before oil wealth, Gulf Arabs typically ate bread or rice with fish, vegetables and fruit. Meat was rare.

But consumption of sugar, fat and processed foods has shot up and intake of fresh fruit and vegetables has dropped. The study notes people in the UAE consume, on average, 79 kg of meat a year, compared with only 13 kg in less wealthy and more traditional Yemen.

Almost 70 percent of Kuwaiti women suffer from obesity. UNQUOTE