A third of Dubai students are obese: study

More than 30 per cent of school students in Dubai are either obese or overweight, according to a latest survey conducted by the Beat Obesity campaign.

Local English daily Gulf News reported that the findings are the results of health camps and obesity tests conducted on 1,071 students across nine schools in Dubai, of whom 343 children came under the overweight or obese category.

The three pronged campaign to educate schoolchildren about the dangers of diabetes connected to obesity is being organised by the Landmark Group in collaboration with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and Zulekha Hospital.

In its second leg, the survey will cover 18 private and government schools across the city and later the campaign will spread into another 100 schools.

The drive includes, various contests among students to raise awareness, sports activities like interschool football league to promote active lifestyle as well as health and fitness camps.

Apart from these doctors are going around the schools to conduct BMI tests of students to find their fitness levels.

According to the 2010 study conducted by the UAE Ministry of Health in association with Centre for Disease Control in the US and the World Health Organisation states that, 54.7 per cent of children living in the UAE between the ages of six and 16 fall under the overweight and obese bracket.

In 2009, the figure was 26 per cent.

The final results of the Beat Obesity Campaign, when concluded at the end of May, will reveal whether that trend is on an upward or downward spiral.

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