The weight of affluence

Abstract

A multicultural field gathered at 07:00 for the start of the recent Abu Dhabi half marathon. Runners from Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, to name but a few of the countries represented, took their marks. Yet of the 306 runners who made it back to the Golf and Equestrian Club, not one was from the United Arab Emirates. Chris Collier, from the Abu Dhabi Striders Club, which organizes the annual event, puts the absence of local entrants down to the lack of an exercise culture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We're definitely not just a club for expats, Collier, an Englishman, explained. We welcome all nationalities and in the past have given young Emiratis the chance to join us on our weekly runs, but we have had little response. He adds: is no culture of running here in the UAE. Why would you get willingly hot and bothered in this sort of heat? The low levels of exercise, along with a taste for fast foods laden with carbohydrates, salt, fat and processed sugar is cause for increasing concern about the nation's health. In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 50% of men and women in the UAE were overweight or obese. These rates are also increasing in other countries in the region. [WHO defines overweight as a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25 kg/[m.sup.2] and obesity as a BMI equal to or greater than 30 kg/[m.sup.2].] In 2008, the Department of Nutrition and Health at UAE University reported that about a quarter of children aged between eight and 12 were overweight. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Where there is obesity, diabetes follows. In 2000 WHO reported that 13.5% of the UAE population was diabetic, the second-highest prevalence of the disease in the world; this figure is expected to rise to 19.3% by 2030. Of course, the UAE is not alone in facing these problems. WHO says obesity has reached alarming numbers globally. In 2005 it estimated that 1.6 billion adults were overweight, of whom at least 400 million were obese. But it is the rapidity with which these problems have taken hold in the UAE where less than half a century ago the people--nomadic Bedouin desert farmers and coastal dwellers involved in pearling and sea trade--still subsisted on a diet of fish, rice, bread, dates, yogurt, homegrown vegetables and meat from sheep, goats and camels. Oil production, which started in the 1960s, has triggered massive population growth and urbanization and an attendant change in lifestyle. However, obesity and related illness in the UAE are not exclusive to the country's nationals, who account for less than 20% of the population. The country's development relies heavily on expatriate labour, mainly from Bangladesh, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Dr Ayoub Al Jawaldeh, regional adviser on nutrition at WHO's Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO), says people have become victims of their affluence. are spoiled by their high incomes, he says. have a driver, a maid to do their housework and they enjoy eating at They also watch at least three hours of TV a day, more in summer. People used to cook at home. Now we have delivery services from any number of restaurants. Al Jawaldeh says food portions have become too big. Low levels of exercise and overeating the wrong foods--all this has led to increasing obesity. It starts early in childhood. There is no control of the food in the school canteens where they sell fast food and soft drinks. Of course, this is not something linked to the UAE alone, but in Europe and the United States of America, people realize they need to change their diet and lifestyle. There isn't that same awareness in this part of the world. While he cites a lack of health awareness among the public, there are signs of urgency among government officials in tackling the problem. …