Increasing incomes in the UAE have led to more sedentary lifestyles

The huge gulf in perception between those who are thin and those who think that they are thin has been highlighted by an obesity survey conducted in the United Arab Emirates. The World Health Organization statistics show that about 2/3 of Emirati men and 72 percent of Emirati women are clinically overweight yet ? of those men and women who were questioned believed that they were of a normal weight.

The surveys into personal obesity perceptions were conducted by Philips Healthcare on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council as part of the drive to improve the health of Emirati citizens. Dr Wael Al Mahmeed who works at the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City as the head of cardiology and deputy chief medical officer explained that changing the perception of what is overweight could be a "major challenge" and that they needed to put more effort put into educating citizens about the various health risk factors which would accompany an unhealthy lifestyle.

Another important finding from this study was that 99 percent of the individuals questioned didn't perceive heart disease as being a threat to their health despite the evidence which shows that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the Emirates.

Other findings which are bound to raise a few eyebrows were that almost 50 percent of individual believed that their health had improved recently despite the evidence being presented at hospitals and health centres around the nation. There also seemed to be a slight trend in that women were more concerned about their health than men which is something which is seen all around the world.

Increasing incomes in the United Arab Emirates have led to more sedentary lifestyles for many of its citizens and this has had a negative impact on overall health. Higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and other obesity related diseases have been observed and will continue to be observed unless action is taken by the relevant medical authorities.