The Obesity Epidemic Gripping Qatar
Weighing Up Prosperity: Qatar has piled on the pounds in recent years - but as the economy grows, so do the waistlines. For similar stories, see: How Sugary Foods Are Making Us Fat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B46KfOXZpbI 40% Of South Africans Are Overweight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XpZPcgkm-4 The Hidden Brutality of Qatar s FIFA World Cup Preparations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdrAd-44LW0 Subscribe to journeyman for daily uploads: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=journeymanpictures For downloads and more information visit: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/6522 Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/journeymanpictures Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JourneymanVOD https://twitter.com/JourneymanNews Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/journeymanpictures Thirty years of rising living standards have left Qatar with an epidemic of obese children. Now doctors are trying to tighten belts and stem the tide on a major health problem that could have far reaching consequences. At the beginning I was fine, until I was in the third year at primary school. Then the Gulf tummy started to grow explains Moaz, who suffered from obesity all through his childhood. A sharp rise in economic affluence, increasingly westernized diets and low exercise rates has lead to an explosion in the country s levels of obesity. 40% of Qataris are now obese and 20% suffer from diabetes, with 75% of diabetics under 45 years of age. As Dr Taheri explains, the effects could be far reaching. "They are going to be affected at a very young age with heart disease, problems with cancer, dementia, things that are going to affect the nation in the long term." Doctors like Taheri are hoping that a strict program of prevention, enforcing healthy diets and exercise regimes upon the nation s schoolchildren will be enough to limit the impact. BBC Arabic - Ref 6522 Journeyman Pictures is your independent source for the world s most powerful films, exploring the burning issues of today. We represent stories from the world s top producers, with brand new content coming in all the time. On our channel you ll find outstanding and controversial journalism covering any global subject you can imagine wanting to know about.