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.

Though more common in females, obesity also affects Kuwaiti men and causes several serious conditions such as heart attacks, high blood pressure and hormone imbalance.

For men suffering from obesity, diabetes and hardening of the blood vessels are the most commonly linked diseases. Obese women tend to suffer from chronic ailments such as vein hardening, high blood pressure and diabetes.

In Iran, obesity rates vary from rural to urban populations. Thirty percent of Tehran’s women are obese.

In Saudi Arabia obesity is now a major problem among both men and women. Grossly overweight women of all ages are becoming a very common sight on city streets, in cold stores and supermarkets.

The percentage of overweight and obese people increases in older age groups and this leads to yet more health problems. Studies in 2000 on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among hypertensive and diabetic adult patients found that 46 percent of them were obese.

In the last three decades, obesity among adults, especially women, has increased and become a major health problem in Saudi Arabia.

A 1999 study by the WHO on obesity in Saudi Arabia among Saudis aged 14 and above, showed that 27.23 percent of males and 25.20 percent of females were overweight, with the prevalence of obesity being 13.05 percent among males and 20.26 percent among females.

For females, there were contributing factors other than simply diet, such as spending a great deal of time indoors, having little access to sports and other physical activities, socializing frequently where eating is the main activity, repeated pregnancy and the employment of housemaids.

WHO experts believe obesity will soon be the No. 1 cause of all preventable deaths in the world, overtaking cigarette smoking.

Chronic medical problems caused by obesity include almost all modern diseases: high blood pressure, stroke, gallbladder problems, sleep apnea, gout.

Diet, eating and exercise — or the lack of it — are the causes. The old saying “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” expresses the essential truth.

But in today’s fast-paced world, few have the time to enjoy a big breakfast or prepare a nutritious lunch.

Most of us resort to fast-food options during the day, grabbing something quick to eat while scurrying off to a meeting. Fast food chains are burgeoning and people are struggling to resist the temptation of fast and easily available cheap food.

The main home-cooked meal is now consumed in the evening, when little, if any physical activity follows. The inevitable consequence is that increasing numbers of people are gaining weight.

As reliable access to healthy foods declines and processed foods rich in sugar and fat have become cheaper than fruit and vegetables, obesity rates soar. Health experts are concerned at the rise of childhood obesity caused by poor diet and lack of exercise. Evidence confirms that overweight children become overweight adults. At no other time in history, in fact, has an obesity epidemic been so prevalent among young people. The prevalence of overweight children has tripled in less than 30 years.