The Gulf obesity epidemic in has come under increased scrutiny recently. Supersized boys and girls are barely recognizable and four of the world’s fattest countries hail from Gulf nations – a staggering number that has increasingly tragic consequences.
Just 19 years old, an Emirati boy who weighed 170 kilograms was flying from Dubai to Bangkok to receive treatment for obesity when he suffered a fatal heart attack. The pilots of Emirates Airline Flight EK 374 were then forced to make an emergency landing in Hyderabad, where the teenager was pronounced dead at the Apollo Clinic.
His body will be flown back to Dubai on another flight.
Government officials in Dubai have launched a fitness competition that will take place during Ramadan in order to combat this growing problem. Although people fast during the day, at night, when they break the fast, they tend to make up the lost calories without doing any kind of exercise.
The event sponsored by Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktourm, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Fitness First Middle East will award massive cash prizes to the “Fittest Man” and “Fittest Woman” in Dubai and hopefully encourage more citizens to lose the extra weight they’re carrying around.
:: Gulf News
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
