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Guidelines Ready for Nutritional Plan
SHARJAH — The UAE has drafted nutritional guidelines to improve the general well being of residents and address the burgeoning burden of non-communicable diseases including obesity and diabetes, said the project’s director.
Based on recommendations of the World Health Organisation, the comprehensive guidelines are part of the National Nutritional Strategy and Action Plan for 2010-2015 that will be ready by the end of the year.
The guidelines will bring about changes in patterns of household food consumption and improve school canteen diets and dietary sections in hospitals.
They will also address food fortification issues, promote breast feeding and improve general public health by ensuring adequate intake of micronutrients such as iodine and iron. In this regard, the UAE Health Ministry is asking residents to solely consume iodised salt.
“We will develop the action plan based on the outcomes of the strategy hopefully by early next year,” said Dr Salah Al Badawi, Director of National Project for Control of Diabetes.
The strategy will outline national policies on nutrition (malnutrition, under nutrition, overweight, obesity) and food production (safety, security and consumption), consumer education, national surveillance systems and capacity building for nutrition in emergencies. The policies will be enforced through individuals, groups, organisations and related government bodies.
“The strategy is important because malnutrition and obesity rates are alarming in many regional countries,” said Dr Ayoub Aljawaldeh,
Regional Advisor in Nutrition for the health organisation in the Eastern Mediterranean regional office. Other factors that increase the need for a strategy include the high costs of ignoring prevention, micronutrient deficiencies and reduced quality of life, he said.
Micronutrient deficiencies, nutritional well being of women and children, and food-borne diseases are among the current health challenges facing the UAE, said Dr Aljawaldeh during a Ministry of Health and WHO workshop to finalise the nutritional plan on Monday.
Other challenges include diet-related non-communicable diseases and obesity in adults, children and adolescents, he added.
“Half of the Emiratis have a sedentary lifestyle and women are more active than men in the UAE,” said Dr Ayesha Al Dhaheri from the Nutrition and Health Department, College of Food and Agriculture at the UAE University.
While presenting findings from a study carried out by the university, Dr Al Dhaheri said that 59.8 per cent of married Emirati women and 53.8 per cent of men were either overweight or obese.
“Controlling these figures is among the key challenges facing the nutrition sector in the UAE,” she told Khaleej Times, adding that educational awareness targeting families was one step in the right direction.
She said issues such as lack of statistics and data, financial support, lack of effective communication between different bodies were among some other challenges facing the country.
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