Intensive awareness campaigns encouraging people to lead a healthy lifestyle have made a positive impact by influencing people to change habits, says an expert.
Awareness campaigns have influenced people to change their food habits and engage in more physical activities, Dr Moataz Bashah, Director, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), told The Peninsula yesterday.
He said Qatar National Sport Day is one of the significant initiatives in the country which promotes healthy living.
With high prevalence of obesity and lifestyle diseases, many campaigns are being held by different entities in the country promoting the importance of exercise, fitness, healthy eating habits and disease prevention.
“Many awareness campaigns encourage all segments of society to lead a healthy lifestyle and give up harmful habits. People are changing, they are trying to eat healthy and be active,” said Dr Bashah.
Also, some schools have taken steps to improve nutritional education and food habits among students. “It’s good to see that some schools are encouraging students to bring healthy food such as raw fruits and vegetables,” said Dr Bashah.
Although many have started adopting a healthy lifestyle, it has not reached a sufficient level as prevalence of obesity among adults in the country is 30 percent and 20 percent among the adolescents.
“People are learning and changing but still it’s not enough, said Dr Bashah.
Beating obesity and adopting a healthy lifestyle will also save from a number of other health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, which could otherwise get out of control.
Dr Bashah said that the Qatar National Sports Day is a significant initiative that encourages healthy living but people shouldn't limit their activities to one day.
“ Everyone knows how to be healthy but the problem is that many don’t follow it. People should do physical activities regularly, at least for half an hour to one hour per day, five days a week. They must eat more of uncooked vegetables, salads, fruits in every meal and avoid fat,” he added.
Those who intend to lose weight should start doing exercises with proper instructions by an expert, according to Dr Bashah. “Just walking and running will not help much to reduce weight. Most walk in a relaxed way, one should do active walking and sweat and it will help to maintain the health and fitness. There are special exercises to lose weight and burn calories, and it has to be initially done under supervision,” he said.
