Battling the bulge in Dubai as obesity rates rise

Take a wide range of fast-food outlets, add long working hours, a sedentary lifestyle and a reliance on cars to get around – and you've got a recipe for obesity, diabetes and heart problems.
So say health experts in the United Arab Emirates – where two thirds of men and almost three-quarters of women are overweight.
Expatriates are also piling on the pounds – and turning to a range of solutions in the battle against the bulge.
STORYLINE:
As one of the most cosmopolitan countries in the world, the UAE caters for all nationalities and tastes.
And that includes fast food.
Whether you want burgers and chips or pizza and wings, you don't have to walk far to find it in the Gulf state.
Chances are you won't be walking far at all, though – staggeringly high temperatures for much of the year mean that most people rarely walk outside.
In the UAE the car is king – depriving Emiratis and expats alike of the rare opportunity for exercise.
Little surprise, then, that obesity rates are rocketing.
According to the World Health Organisation, some 67 percent of Emirati men and 72 percent of Emirati women are overweight.
Almost 40 percent of women in the UAE are clinically obese – the seventh highest proportion in the world.
More than a quarter of men are obese – the ninth highest.
That has led to a rise in weight-related diseases such as type-2 diabetes, with which experts say 22 percent of the population has been diagnosed.
Children are affected, too.
Almost a third are overweight or obese – and children as young as eight are being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and hypertension.
There are no figures for the expat population, who make up about 80 percent of the population, but experts say they are also following the trend.
Many of those expats are now turning to weight-loss experts to beat the bulge.
Take Aakriti Mago, who sought out nutritionist Rashi Chowdhary.
She subsequently dropped her dress size from 16 to 12 – and is now aiming for size 10.
And it's clear to Mago what's to blame for all the expanding waistlines.
"I think it's the ease of getting fast food all around you," she says. "So Even if you are driving every 10 seconds or so you'll see a McDonald's, KFC, you've got these little cafeterias that sell shawarmas (kebabs) and fried nuggets and unhealthy stuff."
"I think it's just that, especially with the lifestyle that we have here, if we are working late it's so easily available," she adds.
Chowdhary, who runs a nutrition and weight-loss centre in Dubai, says the number of expats using her service has doubled in the past year.
And once people gain weight, she says, they often search for quick fixes such as diets, pills and appetite suppressants.
Chowdhary blames both the sedentary lifestyle in the UAE and its affluence for the alarming rise in obesity.
But she also worries about the perception that people there have about health, weight loss and fitness.
"Most people want guarantees," she explains. "You know, 'I want to lose five kgs (kilograms, about 11 pounds) in five weeks or five years'."
"So what happens with this kind of thinking is that you might lose those kgs but you don't realise that when you lose it too fast it's probably just muscle and water, and what happens then (is) it always comes back," Chowdhary says.
She maintains that people who want to lose weight need to make basic lifestyle changes – such as eating healthy food and doing more exercise.
Among those treading the right path is Chris Dcosta, an Indian-Canadian national.
He moved to the UAE nine years ago and has since put on 50 kilos (110 pounds).
Chris now weighs 148 kilos (326 pounds) – and points the finger of blame at his long working hours.
And that isn't Chris's only motivation to lose weight.

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