The vast majority of Qatari adults are overweight, do not eat enough produce and get very little physical activity, raising the population’s likelihood of contracting diseases like diabetes, a new Supreme Council of Health survey has found.

Some 45 percent of those surveyed carry more than three out of five risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, according to the National Step-wise Survey on the Non-Communicable Diseases Risk Factors.

The survey involved nearly 2,500 Qataris aged 18 to 64 years old.

The Peninsula reports on some of the findings:

Obesity is on the rise among the Qatari population with 70 percent overweight, out of whom 41.4 percent are obese. 16.4 percent smoke. 45.9 percent are found to have low physical activity, with women as the most sedentary with 54 percent against 37 percent men.

Almost every Qatari (91 percent) eat less than five servings of fruit or vegetables on average per day. High blood pressure is another risk factor that affects nearly one Qatari out of three.

Health experts, who call the results alarming, say lifestyle changes must be made especially among the younger generation to avoid a high incidence of Type 2 diabetes in the future.

In an interview with the Peninsula, Sharoud Al Jundi Matthis, Program Manager at the Qatar Diabetes Association, said:

“The youth are an easier group to work with because we can hopefully change their lifestyle easier. We can anticipate the future by working on the young generation. We can bring obesity down, increase their physical activity, and in this way we can delay the onset of diabetes or prevent it completely.”

Here are the survey results:

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Karen Blumberg