Qatar ranked sixth in ‘obesity prevalence’

some expats (not all) do some kind of excersise get out the car and do there own shopping and carry it to the car, run around after their own children , pick up and and do some of the cleaning in their own house. Make their own food for dinner,go to work etc. But there are hardly any locals that do this because they have other people to do it for them. So if you never have to exert yourself you will naturally put on weight.

I'm not as optimistic as you, genesis.

This is the same country that outlawed smoking in public places. But to this day you will still find people smoking indoors in every last Starbucks. So the anti-smoking strategies weren't what you'd call a success amongst a portion of this society.

The new traffic law did little to curb dangerous driving, especially amongst that portion of the community that know they can erase fine and demerit points with ease. So that hasn't been a success either.

The municipality recently said that all structures built outside villas - carshades, accommodation for domestic workers etc, were going to be forcibly removed. But that never happened. Totally ignored by both the population and the concerned authorities.

What makes you think people will take any more notice of a health strategy than they have the other government initiatives?

return to the basics approach is whats going to help. Rest all are going to be failures.

The weight loss industry is booming with those promised quick fixes. Like elsewhere , I see many of the local public too struggling to lose weight. Maybe they are just taking the wrong approaches

The national health strategy is very promising ( http://www.nhsq.info/ ) with Leading figures like Lord Darzi & the plan to establish wellbeing centres within the health for exercise & healthy eating promotion. Not to mention Chef Jamie Oliver was approached some time this year for meals planning in schools .

I agree with Fuber, it's the lifestyle adapted by the society in the past two decades that have drastically increased the rate of obesity ( most notably among children & women). But we can't avoid mentioning the western dietary habits as a factor that obviously contributed to the overall obesity in both genders. Statistically, obesity wasn't identified as a major chronic disease locally until recently. Not to mention, the percentage is very small among the elderly . It's also noted that obesity is higher among the urban locals than their Bedouin compatriots who still preserve their simple dietary habits of camel/ goat dairy & dates

It's important to note that as the obesity percentage increased , the "weight loss" industry have also flourished in Qatar recently with the introduction of fitness centers, diet delivery companies & dietitians. Also there have been a dramtic upsurge lately in the gastric bypass operations. So much, it's reported that there is a long waiting list for such operations at HMC

It's all about the "quick fix" isn't it. Don't make an effort, let others do it for you. Seems to be the general way of the world at this time.

Chairboy,you are under the assumption that he even gets the joke??? AND the historical and cultural references...

LMAO now thats funny - however I will wait until 2012 passes judgement on its humour value before I get REALLY excited!!!!

Chairboy

we will get revenge over france in the 6 nations, never fear

link to cheer you up

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnypictures/ig/100-Funny-Pictures/French-Soldier-Of-Surrender.htm

He is contracted through to 2015 - so thats good.

Yep you've got a good young team going forward, you guys had a great cup, unlucky not to beat the Boks, good quarter final win and robbed by the ref in the semi. Welsh rugby is looking good for the future now, hope gatland stays as coach for another tenure.

I must confess that I do watch rugby through Red specs but in regard to the Wales/France game - it was a triple wammy - 1. Losing Ryan Jones from front row in the firt 10 minutes - he is a talisman for the team 2. losing the skipper from the match and the scrum, disaster (nothing to say about Rolland - he did what he thought was right at the time - would have liked to see him have a chat with either barnes or the other lino tho)meaning plying 60 minutes with 14 and 3. missed kicking opportunites. Im proud of what the Welsh achieved though - they have succeeded in putting us back on the map and made a lot of rugby friends sit up and take notice.

hmmmm now there's a thought

Quite - they were robbed. At the highest level of the game, such as the world cup, I don't think that any team has won the match after having someone sent off so early in the game, - therefore when he sent that Welsh guy off, it was the kiss of death.

2012 - please find a away to spout your nonsense about the RWC, if you can (if you even understand the game), it is always a pleasure to read your thoughts on things that you don't get.

Maybe Qatar should be bidding for the Rugby World Cup, so you boys can enjoy it here, live!

Chairboy, France had 16 men for them, the ref had a shocker...OZ didn't deserve to be in the final, AB's to powerful and precise for them, but Wales should be there...

Nice to see the usual cr*p coming out of 2012 (serious, serious personal issues) and Isalle. Best to ignore. On the rugby, Im thinking that the Aus/Wales game will actually be better than the final which will be the most one sided final since the competition began. Lord knows how a team who lost to Tonga made their way to the final - it begars belief!!!!

after losing twice in the pool matches Franch must have aguardian angel with them....yep shame for Wales, with 15 on the field they would have beaten the French for sure

Nah - you will be ok, Wales should have beaten them the other day, will be most annoyed if you don't win now, the french absolutely don't deserve to win.

thanks jjj75, couldn't have written the script better....one more hurdle those pesky French!

Course he is Raven - expect his vitriol on this thread soon (usually against me, he is a bit of a stalker). I have already had to answer one of his silly questions in another forum this morning, which he will not have liked.

ps well done yesterday

I think he's a closet wannbe jjj75

Just ignore 2012 - in his eyes everything bad comes from the west and nothing good. Not sure why he says he is a UK citizen, if he is, he never has anything positive to say about it - cannot understand why he just does not give up his passport seeing as he comes from a country that in his eyes is part of poisoning the world????

Isn't there something strangely ironic about one of the world's fattest countries bidding for sporting events?

We should also consider all the Western cars, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche .... They only support obesity. But isn't it the Qataris' choice to drive and not to walk! How can you blame the West for this. Stop importing the Western goods!! Do it! Don't just accuse!! (2012 Olympics) And I bet you don't walk yourself. And I bet you have a mobile phone. And I bet you watch TV. Come back to your own traditions: fish, dates, and goat or camel milk.

McDonalds is run by Al Mana! Obviously NOT a Western company!!!

@ Fubar....or the lazy ones that honk their horns outside shops for service, to lazy to even get outta their Landcruisers

Personally I think it has less to do with bad diets and more to do with the sheer laziness of the people living here. I am still shocked after living here for years to see people who need help pushing their grocery trolleys around the supermarket - how lazy can you be??

So the WEST forces Qatar to have these fast food chains in the country, hmmmmm it has nothing to do with greedy Qatari businessmen then?

Obesity is West's poison. Cannot kill us with war so they poison our children with propaganda and fat.

I thought it was clear but I guess not!...the % of obese(NOT just FAT) local kids amongst the local population is FAR higher than that of expat kids amongst the expat population...& no, I'm not promoting some company's product here!...

A 1.85 cms person approx. 6'2" person with 76.5 kg will look like a pole for sure...lol

The 'ideal' weight is the centimeters above 1 m of your size, minus 10 %. So, if you are 1.85 m tall, it's 850 N, minus 10 %, which leaves you at 765 N, or falsely 76.5 kg.

For those who are not so keen on maths, you should have approximately as many kgs (or better Newtons x ten) as many centimeters you are taller than 1 meter. Anything else is OVERWEIGHT!

Yes, let's wind this back a step of two.

From what I can see, if you are of average height, and you weigh more than 95kg, you aren't overweight. You are obese.

Maybe there are people on this forum who think obesity is for the more monstrous sized people out there - 150kg etc.

But for the purpose of statistics, overweight kicks in at 80kg, and obesity at 95kg for people of average height.

are all slim married couples living happily?

Then they will do a lot of eating together, I guess, FS.

LP..what if both are fat?

Fat people are a turn-off! Maybe they are married. But happily??

Actually Tinker, as a man, that's exactly what I'm saying. In western countries where men and women can meet and get to know one another beyond the superficial, then yes, larger women might find a man interested in her. But in countries where not as much emphasis is placed on getting to know the person prior to marriage, what man would chose the chunky girl when he could have the thinner one?

It may sound a little off, but all I'm saying is that fat girls, and guys, are less desirable to most (generalisation...) people.

can we get back on topic now about obesity, and not self esteem issues of fat chicks?

ok, so the west is a bad influence - shock horror that some posters out there have to find some way to blame the west, some things never change....

BUT NO ONE SHOVES THAT 3RD BURGER DOWN THEIR GOBS!

It's lucky that in this country there is arranged marriage, otherwise you would wonder how many of them would ever find someone willing to marry them.

As I walked out of Carrefour in Villagio last night and saw the tables full of mammoth girls gorging themselves at the chocolate fountain cafe place (probably telling themselves that since there is fruit, it's healthy) I felt a little sad for them. But mostly disgusted.

FS, those 50% in the expat schools are locals according to our resident critics ;)

yea only local kids are obese, the expat kids are all prim and proper. Even the expat parents you see next to the ice rinks are obese. :) Maybe they are also locals :)

Fat local kids are all over the place and this is a fact. Your silly defensive attitude won't cover up for it.

gadarene ..have you not seen obese kids in public places? If you go to any expat school and check 50% of the children are overweight/obese.

@ s_isale,kindly share with us the location of these secret malls,because they are obviously different from the ones the rest of us go to!!! :)...or is it just standard reaction to be defensive & in denial about the TRUTH?...your attitude is SO typical of this place!...deny everything & think it will just disappear!...sorry but it won't,denial makes it worse if anything...

I guess you go to different malls then s_isale

more than locals one finds "obese" expat kids in those malls. :)

Not to mention that people in the States walk around those super Walmarts to go grocery or China-goods shopping. And from their cars into shopping esablishments (round trip!). Heh!

True, western food brought to Qatar does have a lot to show for this, BUT  in the States if there is no drive thru, we don't honk our horns to get someone to come out and take our order.  We at least WALK to the restauarant!

 More evidence of the negative side of Western influence.  I admit that some things in the West is good but this is not one.

@ stealth,again for arguments sake,let's put aside the definition of obesity & the BMI index,look around at those overweight local kids in the mall,do they not LOOK obese to you?!...you decide,obese or not!...

how does one define obesity?Isnt the BMI index an unreliable one?

@ s_isale,for arguments sake,let's leave aside the stats,as jjj75 correctly pointed out,why do you need the stats when the facts are staring you right in the face each time you step out to a mall?...or is that also B.S?... perhaps a bunch of aliens in human fat kid form planted in Qatari homes to "promote some company's product here"?!?!?! :)...

Hehe Gtrman... if you read the first sentence, Qatar as a country is 6, but is No. 1 (yay... Qatar, always striving to be No. 6) for the world's fattest boys!!!!Some of the ones you see waddling around the shopping malls crack me up.  Lucky they get to wear thobes because there is no way that they could buy jeans and t-shirts at H&M to fit around their mammoth waists and manboobs.Hardly surprising for a country where it is considered normal to simply pull up in your car and honk to go shopping, buy karak or collect your laundry.Even the Cultural Village has to employ people to drive golf buggies around, just in case anyone would actually think that they should WALK all the way from the car park to their restaurant, where they can keep stuffing their faces. 

Actually over 4/5 of the local children that you actually SEE (which are usually only at the shopping malls and sporting events...) are chubby, fat, or extremely obese.  And strangely enough, over the past 7 (seven) years I've noticed that over 65% of the children that I see in these places are twins or triplets (which doesn't help as they usually are fed identical foods).  More here than in any of the many countries I've lived in around this globe. It is good that there are more local children, though it sometimes seems like we are surrounded by cloned ones.  *gasp!*  If this is true then my posting this will explain the scarey people knocking down my front....  <end of transmission>

s_isale

don't need to look at the stats, just need to look around, there are a lot of fat children in this country

there you go - you should always the result of statistics with a pinch of salt... 

yes - there are some right old chubsters out there.

i dont know abt u guys... im kinda shocked tht its only the sixth... it shud actually be the first...... :-p

now where is my greasy chiken with skin and extra fat shawarma , mayo filled and shata with tahina and my tabaqat ice cream shake........???

try this http://www.iaso.org/ or just google the organization,that's what i did!...NO statistical study takes every single person into account,that would be near impossible! that's why it's called a statistic,because a sample size is used & an average derived from it,going by your logic,every single statistic on the planet is BS! is that what you're saying?...that it's ALL made up??? to promote some company's prouducts???...if yes,I want what you're smoking!!! :)...

with a sample size of 1028 - it sure does look accurate isnt it?Is there a breakdown of statistics - as to how many locals and expats? 

Sorry! We can't seem to find that page. yea it looks BS, isnt it?

@ s_isale, http://www.iaso.org/publications/world-map-obesity/...i suppose that's ALL B.S?!...you're funny! :)...

But sadly her outlook dosen't really scream "practice what you preach". Still for all its always a good thing to create awareness among people of the importance of fittness and good dietary habbits.Obesity is undoubtfully on the increase and every person out there needs to know how to safe guard themselves and their families from what can be a deadly phenomena. 

another intelligent comment s_isale

a load of BS....Another gimmick to promote some companies products here....

says who ? the obese presenter ? Gadarene, its what they do, they keep bidding so they can SIT and WATCH.  Since these numbers includes us expats, we must play our part in preventing such.

the one who gave the presentation herself looked obese :)

SIXTH GLOBALLY!!!...for a population of what,300,000 Qataris???...no no,there's no problem here...who needs more public parks or community swimming pools eh?....just bid for every sporting event possible & even things out eh?! :)...

excuse me i meant takeaways :-)

Thats truethey should take the kids out,get them to play sports! other then just watching t.v and eating taking aways! 

maybe if kids were allowed to play football , ride  their bikes in aspire park, instead of sitting eating icecream there might not be such a problem .