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28 March 2024

Anil Kapoor weighs in on UAE’s fat to fit move

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

The 59-year-young TV and Bollywood star Anil Kapoor has just invested in an apartment in Dubai, but his biggest investment ever has been in is health.
 
The ever-green actor believes children need to be taught as early as possible on how to remain healthy and schools need to add a subject on health in their curriculum.
 
“I think education is the most important thing… we have to educate children from school onwards and that will be the best thing to do,” he asserts.
 
“Usually what happens is that you come to know of any health problems when you grow up, but if you can have a subject in school and put it in their mind, I think that will be the best thing to eradicate as much as possible the obesity problem.”
 
His response came after Emirates 24|7 asked him on how UAE can tackle the issue of obesity.

The World Health Organisation states that the obesity rate in the UAE is about double the world average. Globally, over 2.1 billion people, close to 30 per cent of the global population, is overweight or obese.
 
A Zurich International Life report puts 47.5 per cent of UAE residents overweight with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30; and another 13 per cent being obese with a BMI of over 30 due to excessive fat intake and a sedentary lifestyle.
 
Another study by McKinsey Global Institute predicts that almost half of the world’s adult population could be overweight or obese by 2030.
 
It said that obesity will cost the world $2 trillion a year, nearly as expensive as armed conflict and smoking.
 
Though Kapoor admits real estate is something that he does understand, as he rubbishes claims of him owning properties in London and California. He has bought a two-bedroom apartment in Dh300 million Ritz by Danube Properties in Dubai's Al Furjan area.
 
“I don’t want have properties there. In the UAE, I admire Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest tower). I have stayed there, but I have no plans to buy in the tower,” he reveals.
 
The actor reasserts his biggest investment is in health, adding, “I even advise my family members to invest as much as they can on their health.”
 
His daughter, Sonam, is already style icon and his son, Harshvardhan, is set to debut in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's ‘Mirziya’.