Obesity higher among UAE women than men

Obesity is higher among females than males in the UAE with a ratio of 30/20 per cent, ranking the country fourth globally in terms of highest obesity ratio among women. The statistics showed that around 31 per cent of women are obese compared to around 18 per cent men.

Qatar has the highest level of obesity in the world at 45 per cent.

Qatar and UAE were among the countries with the highest levels of adult obesity, with 45 per cent and 31 per cent of females considered obese, respectively.

UN said obesity is as a serious health problem for women in the Arab countries as lifestyles change to become more urban and sedentary; cultural and social factors may also play a role in that women and girls are not encouraged to engage in sports.

Three of the top five countries with high prevalence of obesity are located in Latin America. In Panama and Mexico, 36 and 34 per cent of women respectively were considered obese, though there was also a significant percentage of men who were obese in both countries (28 per cent in Panama and 24 per cent in Mexico).

World Health Organisation estimates that globally in 2005 there were approximately 1.6 billion adults (aged 15 years and over) who were overweight and at least 400 million obese adults. It is projected that the number will continue to grow to about 2.3 billion and more than 700 million, respectively, by 2015.

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