A high percentage of people in the UAE suffer from chronic diseases related to poor nutrition such as obesity and diabetes due to poor nutrition, said Dr Sufyan Ahmad Othman, specialist clinical dietitian at Rashid Hospital.
He was speaking on Thursday at an event to mark the World Food Day on Thursday, in association with the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP). "Almost 20 to 25 per cent of our population is diabetic and this figure does not take into account people who are pre-diabetic. Besides, there are people who are still not aware that they have diabetes," he said.
"The biggest problem we see nowadays is not the consumption of fatty-food which is empty calories, but over-consumption of starchy foods such as rice and bread," said Dr Othman.
Over 500 overweight people visit the nutritional centre at Rashid Hospital every month.
"In the UAE, we are blessed with enough supply of food. However, the problem here is over-eating and obesity. Therefore, we initiated a programme to address two issues: firstly, to make people aware of the plight of countries facing food storage and, secondly, to educate people about healthy eating," said Bill Campbell of UNWFP.
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Copyright (C) 2009, Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates