• Home

Early Physical Activity Can Prevent Heart Problems

The advice comes ahead of World Heart Day on September 27, which stresses that reducing childhood obesity through regular exercise, a less sedentary lifestyle, and a healthy diet is essential to reduce the risk of heart disease in adulthood.

The suggestion holds more importance in the UAE since the country has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world which is among the main risk factors for heart disease.

Dr Alya Ahmed, official UAE spokesperson for the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP), and paediatrician at The City Hospital in Dubai, urged parents to encourage their children to take regular exercise and to limit the amount of time they spend watching TV and playing video games.

“Evidence-based recommendations from AAP say kids should do one hour of activity every day or most days. This covers any type of sports including running, walking, swimming, and even free play for younger children.”

“The recommendation is part of the AAP’s 5.2.1 rule for healthy children – it stands for five pieces of fruit and vegetables, two hours of sedentary or screen time, and one hour of activity per day,” she explained.

Health authorities say they are reviewing strategies to encourage children to become more active physically and improve their dietary habits.

The Ministry of Health is working on implementing policies based on a Unicef-backed campaign “Fat Truth” that ended in July.

“We will announce the results by the year-end and make maximum efforts to change the Unicef’s recommendations into policies,” said Dr Mahmoud Fikri, CEO of Health Policies at the Ministry of Health. Healthcare providers have called for an updated National Health Plan for Diet and Physical Activity.

“We need preventive and training programmes as well as guidelines to manage obesity,” said Dr Mariam Al Matroushi, director of Health Legislation Department in the ministry.

According to a recent survey conducted by the ministry, the number of obese children in the country now stands at 52.8 per cent.

A further study carried out in Dubai’s secondary schools by the Primary Healthcare Department at Dubai Health Authority last year shows that almost half (48.8 per cent) of pupils have a “poor level of sporting practice”, while one fifth (21.2 per cent) do “no sport” at all.

“In the UAE we are still at the awareness stage with childhood obesity, people do not see it as a disease yet. But it is, and it is the responsibility of parents, doctors and teachers to act to prevent children from becoming overweight by encouraging them to exercise and eat healthily,” Dr Ahmed said.

Fitness facilities such as In Motion believe that making exercising fun could encourage more children to exercise and stay fit.

“Normally children will get bored within a few minutes of being forced to exercise,” says Marlen Apel, Chief Marketing Officer of In Motion that promotes interactive exercise through fun. “But while using Exergames, children do not realise they have been running or jumping,” she says.

“In fact our trainers have to monitor the children and ask them to stop playing on a particular game after half an hour so,” she added.

Youngsters can also look forward to the opening of the Academies Campus at Dubai Sports City, which is due to be fully operational by January 2010.

The campus will offer up to 2,300 children per week the chance to take part in world-class coaching for soccer, rugby, cricket, swimming and hockey, as well as access to a running track and a hi-performance centre.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.ae

• UAE