Riyadh: A joint study by the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) and the Ministry of Health suggests that 45 percent of Saudi women and 23.5 of Saudi men are obese.
The study, revealed publicly yesterday, measured the body mass index (BMI) of 5,000 men and women in different parts of the Kingdom. (BMI is a measure which takes into account a person's weight and height to gauge total body fat in adults.)
According to the study, the Kingdom's "fattest" city is the north-central Hail, with 33.9 percent of its population considered obese, followed by Buraidah (26.5 percent), Tabuk (25.2 percent), Taif (23.9 percent), Riyadh (21.7 percent), Makkah (19.3 percent) and Jeddah (16.4 percent). Jizan was the "thinnest" city in the study, with an 11.7 percent obesity rate.
According to Dr. Yasmin Al Twaijiri, epidemiologist at the Department of Bio Statistics, Epidemiology, Scientific Computing at the KFSHRC and chairperson of the Saudi Women Scientist Committee, the alarming rate of obesity indicates the need for an overall change of lifestyle trends as well as dietary habits among Saudis, especially children, who were given special attention in the study.
"Basically what we are doing is trying to prevent heart and other chronic diseases in Saudi Arabia by studying children first," she said.
Al Twaijiri said the study had shown that even though many Saudi children were healthy now, they could be at risk in the future for developing cardiovascular diseases due to their inactive lifestyle.
The researcher said Saudi women were at greater risk than Saudi men in getting chronic diseases because they were less active. She pointed out that this sedentary lifestyle is encouraged by official policy that has banned physical education for schoolgirls. "Physical education at school is extremely important," she said.
Al Twaijiri said it was important that recommendations on the importance of physical education for girls and young women, accompanied by scientific data, should be submitted to the Shoura Council for consideration.
The consultative body says that it sent a recommendation, based on a majority vote, three years ago urging legislation to allow physical education for school-aged girls. Then-Minister of Education Muhammad Al-Rasheed denied ever receiving such a recommendation.
The Council of Ministers said it never received any recommendation from the Education Ministry or the Shoura Council regarding the issue. This round-robin finger pointing has resulted in a continued ban on teaching physical education to girls, who are disproportionately at risk of obesity according to the latest study.
Al Twaijiri said another problem is the lack of public areas where children as well as young people can practice sports or exercise. "There are no outlets for outdoor activities," she said. "We cannot tell our children to go out and play."
Al Twaijiri said physical education in schools as vital toward guiding Saudis to healthier living. "You have to train them and teach them the importance of that at a very early age," she said.
Urbanization and modernization have also extracted their toll by making people more sedentary and prone to eating processed foods laden with unhealthy amounts of oils, sugars and other substances that should only be consumed in moderation. "As we became more affluent," she said, "we started importing processed food -- food that come in boxes and cans that have a high amount of salt, cholesterol, trans fatty acids, as well as sugar."
This increased consumption of junk foods has replaced more traditional homemade goodies, Al Twaijiri said.
She urged parents to be more careful about what is printed on the label. Cartoned juice, for example, often contains high fructose corn syrup (a processed sugar found in many food and rink items) than actual fruit juice.
She cited the example of the research center interviewing a Saudi mother who said she gives her daughter a carton of fresh orange juice everyday. "It turned out that the particular brand contained water, sugar and artificial coloring," she said.
By Raid Qusti
© Arab News 2007
