Tackling UAE’s obesity problem is more complex than you may think

Obesity: huge problem, simple solution – eat less, exercise more. That’s it.
But with more than half of the UAE population now struggling with weight issues, that message from health officials clearly is not working.
This month, World Health Organisation statistics revealed that more than a third of men and almost half of women in the UAE over 18 are not merely overweight, but clinically obese.

That means they face much higher risks of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, with women also undermining their chances of conceiving children or having safe deliveries.
No one can claim to be ignorant of the risks any longer, so there is no longer any excuse for not taking action.
But what if the age-old mantra of eating less, exercise more is flawed? There is now a growing consensus among obesity experts that the standard advice is not just simple – it’s simplistic, perhaps disastrously so.
Also this month, internationally recognised experts on obesity met in England to describe the latest insights into the complexity of the problem and find effective remedies.
Organiser Prof Jonathan Pinkney, an expert on endocrinology and diabetes at Plymouth University in England, says the time has come to accept that obesity is a complex problem and requires a multidisciplinary approach.
Turning the myriad strands now emerging into policy will take time. But it is clear that must be far more nuanced than current advice.
The meeting comes at a time of increasing frustration about the lack of progress in tackling the obesity epidemic.
This year, leading medical journal The Lancet published a paper by experts from leading American universities critical of the health profession for failing to recognise the complexities of obesity.
For example, simply eating less triggers biochemical responses that have evolved to protect us from starvation. These undermine diets by stopping people losing significant amounts of weight – and thus the will to continue.
The researchers added that once obesity is reached, other biochemical responses kick in to maintain or even boost high body weight. Worse still, these responses persist even after returning to a healthy weight. So those who successfully fight the flab can spend the rest of their lives in a biochemical battle to avoid putting it all back on again.
The other half of the standard advice – take more exercise – is also coming under fire for being too simplistic.
There’s no doubt exercise can help. Basic physics show it is only possible to burn off body fat by using up the calories it contains. But this overlooks the energy-packed nature of body fat and junk food – and the fact that humans are not machines.
It takes 15 one-hour walks to burn off just one kilo of body fat, and rewarding yourself with a doughnut for each walk completed will cancel it all out.
Last month, the British Journal of Sports Medicine carried an editorial that went further, alleging that the idea that exercise is effective against obesity is largely food industry propaganda. "Let us bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity", said its authors. "You cannot outrun a bad diet."
At the Plymouth meeting, speakers highlighted how we now live in an "obesogenic" world of fast foods, especially those high in fat, salt and sugar, so-called HFSS ingredients.
Prof Jason Halford of the University of Liverpool says research into the biochemical response of HFSS food gives a new twist to the view that fatties are simply eating more calories than they burn off.
Research suggests that for some obese people such foods overwhelms their inbuilt satiety – "fullness" – response with a hedonic – "pleasure" – reaction. Many are also hypersensitive to food cues, such as advertising, even when they feel full.

Source : The National