A report by the Qatar-based Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy that Saudi Arabia is the largest consumer of processed food in the Gulf region is hardly surprising. With the largest population by far in the GCC region, it would be strange if it were otherwise. Nonetheless, the report contains some highly disturbing details. One is that snack foods account for almost a quarter of regional food sales and of that, half were potato chips.
That is shocking but it is not surprising. The amount of young grossly fat Saudis — and they usually are young — waddling along in shopping malls is all too common. They are digging their graves with their teeth. If they do not change their lifestyle and eating habits, they are not going to live to a great age. And contrary to opinion, women are more at risk than men. Research published last month by the Ministry of Health and the Riyadh-based King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research indicates 45 percent of Saudi women and 23.5 percent of Saudi men are above their ideal body mass index and therefore overweight or grossly obese. The figure for the men is appalling enough; for women, it is staggering. The consequences of obesity are heart disease, diabetes and other life-threatening conditions. The WHO estimates that whereas for the Middle East as a whole the diabetes prevalence rate for adults is 7.7 percent, in the Gulf region it is between 12 percent and 20 percent, rising in Saudi Arabia’s case to between 15 and 25 percent. Alarmingly, it is also estimated that this figure could double by 2025.
We all know why obesity is on the rise. In a word: lifestyle. Urbanization and prosperity have resulted in far more sedentary ways. People exercise less, moving from air-conditioned home to air-conditioned office and air-conditioned shopping malls in air-conditioned cars — and there is plenty of fast food readily available — tasty but high in sodium and full of fat.
American eating habits are often to blame. But the irony here is that while Arabs are stuffing their mouths with more and more processed foods and super-sized orders of Western fast-food menu items, Americans are increasingly coming to terms with their dietary problems and are experimenting with, among other things, traditional, healthy and fresh Middle Eastern cuisine.
Part of the answer must be a campaign to ensure public awareness of the dangers — targeted in particular at young people. The educational system has to be used, promoting healthier lifestyles — eating less high-fat food and instead more fruit, vegetables and traditional dishes. As part of that, there has to be more physical exercise in schools. Speaking of which: Saudi policy banning physical education in girls’ high schools is endangering the lives of women as they grow up under the impression that physical fitness is only important to men. The fact women are disproportionably affected by obesity in Saudi Arabia only makes this policy more ludicrous.
