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MoH to study cause of child obesity in UAE

DUBAI — A scientific study will soon be conducted by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to assess the main factor causing obesity among children in the UAE, said Minister of Health Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qutami yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a function held to mark the UN World Food Day in Dubai yesterday, Al Qutami said, “In the UAE, we have not conducted any research that concludes or proves that junk or fast food has any influence on child health. However, eating habits of children are unhealthy and need to be addressed.”

The minister also launched a month-long campaign asking MoH employees to donate non-perishable food items to Red Crescent Society. “We will start donations in our office and hope that through Red Crescent this will help the hungry people around the globe because we do not have any malnourished people in the country,” he announced.

Meanwhile, the Global School-based Student Health Survey conducted among 15,790 expatriate and Emirati pupils in both private and public schools recently, found that 11.8 per cent of the students surveyed in the 13-15 age group were obese. In addition, 21.3 per cent were at risk of becoming obese.

Dr Hala Haidar, Assistant Director of Technical Affairs for Health Education in the Ministry of Health, said malnutrition did not mean that a person was under-nourished.

“It also means the opposite,” she said, adding that parents, schools and society would have to fight this disease along with health officials.