الوسم: food

Table of Contents

Introduction
Fast food popularity amongst teens in UAE
Fast food facts and statistics
Media influence and its contribution to obesity
Medical research and government support
Obesity awareness and prevention methods
Conclusion

Introduction:

Fast food is very popular amongst teenagers as easy accessible source of daily meal and this is causing rapid increase of obesity in children and young adults. The point of this project is to review the obesity factors, causes and preventative measures that are taken by society and health institutions in the United Arab Emirates.
Fast food so rapidly had become routine part of our daily lives that not consuming junk food often stands out as unacceptable. Families dining out in popular fast food restaurants, toddlers familiar since early age with French fries and coke, people lining up to get newly promoted types of sandwiches and having little idea how this food can effect health or decrease life span of a person.
Awareness is still an issue within UAE and active champagnes can change and improve health of the nation and help everyone to function to their full potential.
Fast food restaurants are popular because they serve filling foods that taste good and don’t cost a lot of money. However, fast food is usually cheap because it’s often made with cheaper ingredients such as high fat meat, refined grains, and added sugar and fats, instead of nutritious foods such as lean meats, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Of course, the UAE is not alone in facing these problems. WHO says obesity has reached alarming numbers globally. In 2024 it estimated that 1.6 billion adults were overweight, of whom at least 400 million were obese.
Currently UAE’s Ministry of Health and other government agencies have formed a National Nutrition Committee to draft a national strategy for reducing obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases.
In this presentation, we will attempt to identify major reasons for fast food popularity, the consequences of consuming it and preventative measures that are currently being taken and possibly will take place in future.

Fast food popularity amongst teens in UAE

“Arab teens name top brands”
Fast food and beverages dominate list of top brands in survey of responses from teens in the region
Fast food has become one of the most popular brands with teenagers in the Middle East.
According to Dubai-based market research firm AMRB and global teen research firm TRU, some of the top brands in the region amongst teens are KFC, Pepsi and McDonald’s. (https://www.7days.ae/article/business…p-brands-28448, July 20, 2024)
Los Angeles Times reported that long-awaited state law, announcing that the calorie count numbers for the items on the restaurant menus goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024. (https://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec…menus-20101230, December 30, 2024)
Unfortunately, there are not yet such law implemented in UAE, but as per recent obesity and diabetes prevention campaigns held in this region, lots of awareness being created for the children and teen in UAE. High incomes and a taste for fast food and sugary drinks have pushed nationals of the United Arab Emirates into the obesity club. The low levels of exercise, along with a taste for fast foods laden with carbohydrates; salt, fat and processed sugar is cause for increasing concern about the nation’s health. In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 50% of men and women in the UAE were overweight or obese.

These rates are also increasing in other countries in the region. [WHO defines overweight as a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25 kg/m² and obesity as a BMI equal to or greater than 30 kg/m².] In 2024, the Department of Nutrition and Health at UAE University reported that about a quarter of children aged between eight and 12 were overweight. Where there is obesity, diabetes follows. In 2000 WHO reported that 13.5% of the UAE population was diabetic, the second-highest prevalence of the disease in the world; this figure is expected to rise to 19.3% by 2030.

The UAE draft strategy – which is being developed with support from WHO – will focus on health and nutrition education, improve food consumption patterns with more focus on vegetables and fruits, food fortification with micronutrients, food labeling and marketing and school feeding programs.
Type 2 diabetes mainly in those aged 40 and over but now children as young as 10 are developing the disease in UAE with parents still see a thin child as sickly, a fat one as healthy.
There are other signs that the fight against obesity is gathering momentum in the region.
At Dubai Women’s College, for example, fitness training has become part of the curriculum. Students are assigned two hours of physical activity a week, an hour of theory, plus homework.

At the moment the teenage obesity in this country is on the increasing rate as we live in a world surrounded by junk food that is available and easy. And there aren’t as many opportunities to exercise in the UAE because everything is oriented around cars. Plus, there are not as many role models for kids; most of the people our students know have all the same bad habits.” (https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/…/en/index.html, 2 February, 2024)

Fast food facts and statistics

Unfortunately, fast food obesity is a major risk factor of ten very serious diseases and health problems. These factors include: sleep apnea, heart disease, arthritis and respiratory problems. Fast food obesity is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the whole world .Here is the most common diseases caused by Fast food:
1- Heart Disease: Of all the diseases caused by fast food obesity, heart disease is one of the most common and most devastating. Large amounts of body fat usually result in higher levels of LDL cholesterol and lower levels of HDL.
2- Diabetes (Type 2): One of the fastest growing obesity related diseases is diabetes, as pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to covert sugars into energy for your cells. The rest of the sugar ends up floating around in your blood and causing damage.
3 –Dyslipidemia: could be considered a junk food obesity related illness. That’s because the disease occurs when LDL levels and triglycerides are abnormally high. Having this condition puts you at greater risk of coronary heart disease, and most physicians attribute its development directly to weight gain.
4 -Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Women who are overweight or obese have a higher likelihood of developing this disorder which is one of the main causes of infertility in females who are within reproductive age. The condition causes irregular menstrual cycles and excess hair growth.
5- Sleep Apnea: Many people with weight problems attribute their lack of energy to their size but many of them actually have a disorder known as sleep apnea. While sleeping, you literally stop breathing and this causes you to wake up suddenly.
6- Arthritis: While most people think of arthritis as a disease for older people only, the condition is simply caused by strain on the joints over time. When you wear more than your body can handle, the strain is greater and causes arthritis to develop much earlier.
7- Blount’s Disease: Blount’s disease is a condition that develops when too much weight is placed on the growing bones in the lower half of the body.
8- Respiratory Problems
Just as being overweight puts more stress on your heart, it also causes your lungs to work harder in order to get the oxygen needed where it needs to faster. Plus, conditions such as plague build-up from high cholesterol in the arteries can make it harder for oxygen to move free through your system.

9 -Liver Damage: Sometimes the body has problems breaking down all of the fatty foods we eat and dealing with the fat appropriately. As a result, fat can build-up around the liver.
10- Stroke: A stroke is caused by a blockage in the arteries supplying blood to the brain. When the blood and the oxygen it carries can’t reach the brain, the cells begin to die off causing permanent brain damage and even brain death.
(Bassitt, 2024)

Hamburgers Sandwich Compared

French Fries (Large) Compared:

Fast food is bad food. That’s pretty much common knowledge these days. The majority of the foods served at fast food restaurants contain an insane amount of calories, tons of fat (including the very evil Trans fat), and are high in pretty much everything else that you’d want your food to be low in. Long story short, it’s the kind of food you want to avoid Eating.But, you probably know this already. The funny thing is, most of the world doesn’t seem to care.
The fast food restaurants continue to do just fine because people continue to eat their unhealthy food. So I figured, if you are still going to eat this junk, you might as well at least know which is the best of the worst, and which is the worst of the worst.To show this, I’ve compared the nutrition facts of the most popular foods from over 20 popular fast food restaurants to see how each restaurant’s version of the same food stacks up against the others. If this isn’t enough to convince you to eat less (or none) of this stuff, it will at least give you the information you need to make the better choice and avoid making the worst one. (https://www.fastfoodnutrition.org/, 2024)

Media influence and its contribution to obesity

The media plays a big role when it comes down to obesity. Teenagers are unaware of the subliminal messages being sent to them through the television. We only see part of the message the advertisement is conveying to us.
Subliminal messages and the effects of advertising:
“Unfortunately, this medium, which has been used for much good, has increasingly been misused. The number of programs and commercials that conflict with good moral standards is steadily rising, and few viewers demonstrate enough self-discipline to resist. Some of today’s teenagers don’t even realize what hidden messages they are receiving – and little by little they subconsciously come to accept them as normal or appropriate.” (https://www.medicineweb.com/health/di…ce-on-obesity/)
During commercial breaks, the food being advertised is mostly unhealthy junk food. They are portrayed by very appealing people and do not show us the risks of consuming their products. Even during the movies or tv shows being aired, a lot of food and beverages are branded which makes the audience only want it more.
“The subtle influence of advertising works in a variety of ways, such as those shown below:
Promotion of images that do not equate to the truth, but are presented in ways that appears to be ‘truthful’. So, people are convinced that buying product ‘A’ will make them happy or younger or more attractive—it must be so because the advertisements ‘prove’ it.
Repetition of messages which stress minor differences between products, for example, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola, can influence unconscious decisions on what becomes a preferred product.
Even if consumers dislike some annoying advertisements, the constant repetition of messages can still influence their purchasing actions.” (https://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/r…-11/11rp09.htm, 2024)

Also, the following has been proven through a study:

1. The majority of the brand placements were for energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods or product lines.
2. Sugar-sweetened beverages, largely soda, accounted for the largest proportion of all of the food product brand placements; 1 in 4 brand appearances was a sugar-sweetened beverage.
3. A surprising number of product-placements for low quality food and beverages were found in movies targeted specifically to older children and teenagers. One third of G-rated movies, more than half (58.5%) of PG-rated movies, and almost three quarters (73.2%) of PG-13–rated movies had brand appearances.
4. Six companies accounted for almost half of all brand placements – PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestle USA, McDonald’s, Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group and Burger King.” (https://hoodcenter.dartmouth.edu/Food…Placement.html)

Medical research and government support

Increasing body fatness is accompanied by profound changes in physiological function. These changes are, to a certain extent, dependent on the regional distribution of adipose tissue. Generalized obesity results in alterations in total blood volume and cardiac function, whereas the distribution of fat around the thoracic abdomen restricts respiratory excursion and alters respiratory function. The intra-abdominal visceral cage tissue, which characterizes upper body obesity, is a major contributor deposition of adipose and to the development of hypertension, elevated plasma insulin concentrations and insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia. (Obesity as a medical problem. Nature, 2000)

Obesity is now so common within the world’s population that it is beginning to replace under nutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to ill health. In particular, obesity is associated with diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and sleep-breathing disorders. Obesity is defined by a body-mass index (weight divided by square of the height) of 30 kg m.
The global epidemic of obesity results from a combination of genetic susceptibility, increased availability of high-energy foods and decreased requirement for physical activity in modern society. Obesity should no longer be regarded simply as a cosmetic problem affecting certain individuals, but an epidemic that threatens global well being.
What role should the government play in the fight against obesity? In a poll last spring of 1,002 adults, 48 percent said that obesity is a private matter and personal responsibility that should be dealt with by individuals alone, while 47 percent said that it is a public health issue requiring government intervention. In contrast to this ambivalence about government’s role, 75 percent of the respondents agreed on the need and desirability for healthcare providers to play a greater role in fighting the obesity epidemic. Commissioned by the Harvard Forums on Health, the poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
Despite the divided opinion regarding government intervention, 62 percent of the respondents said they support the idea of requiring restaurants to list nutrition information on their menus. They also strongly supported government educational campaigns (75%) and the creation of more public space where people can be physically active (81%). On the other hand, 59 percent opposed a special tax on junk food. The respondents drew a distinction between government efforts to fight adult obesity and efforts to fight childhood obesity, giving a very strong endorsement of the latter.
The support for educational campaigns grows to 90 percent when those efforts concern children. Similarly large numbers favored more physical education in school (91%) and wanted schools to provide healthier lunches (95%), and two-thirds thought that schools should play a major role in fighting childhood obesity. How the government would pay for these initiatives remains unclear, however. Although 76 percent said they would support higher taxes to pay for these efforts to curb childhood obesity, only 42% were willing to pay $100 more per year. (Journal of Physical Education, 2024)

Obesity awareness and prevention methods

Whether a person is at risk of becoming obese, currently overweight or at a healthy weight, there are steps to prevent unhealthy weight gain and related health problems. Not surprisingly, the steps to prevent weight gain are the same as the steps to lose weight: daily exercise, a healthy diet, and a long-term commitment to watch what you eat and drink.
https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obe…ION=prevention
Reasonable Diet-Changing daily diet habits and plays important role in obesity prevention. Diet controlling does not happen overnight and requires long term dedication until the previous living and eating habits completely replaced. People with obesity may control to lose weight 0.5-1.0kg per month by reducing 125-250Cal energy intake steadily per month. Individuals with medium or above obesity level can control more strictly to lose weight 0.5-1.0kg per week, or reduce energy intake 550-1100 Cal per day.
Limiting to sugar and fat intake-As sugar has low sense of satiety, so it’s easily causes high appetite.
Since too much sugar will convert into fat inside your body, avoiding eating sugar, honey, confectionaries and sweet cakes should be decreased to a minimum and fiber intake is advisable. Following tips are proven to be useful:

Seafood contains lower heat energy than other meat,
Fowl contains lower heat energy than poultry.
Lean meat contains lower heat energy than fat meat.
Skim milk contains lower heat energy than full cream.
Green leaves vegetable contains lower heat energy than root vegetable.
These tips will help keeping same kind of food by choosing the one with low heat energy.

Eating more vegetables and fruits-Green vegetables, especially green leaf vegetables, contain more vitamin C and carotin which can improve anti-disease ability. Also Vegetables and fruits contain fiber which helps reducing sugars, decreasing fat and help digestion which results in effective weight lose. Recommended foods to fight obesity as following: melons, radish, tomatoes, cucumber ect. Foods with high water levels will help body fat to ****bolize, restrain appetite and insufficient water levels will reflect in low ****bolism and accumulation of body fat. On the other hand, salt intake will cause body water retention, blood volume and weight increase. Additionally, extra salt intake one of the causes of hypertension and heart attack. WHO recommends only 2 g per person daily and monitoring salt consumption on daily bases definitely can help throughout diet process. (https://www.healthy-chinese-recipe.co…revention.html)
As important it is to follow healthy diet, it is the best practice to combine it with daily exercise or physical activities. The best way to step into the new healthier stage in life and leave behind dangers of being obese is to consult with nutritionist or physician. This will help to achieve desirable weight loss in best and effective way that is most suitable on individual bases.
General awareness of the fast food and obesity related consequences is rising in UAE. Throughout educational and governmental channels, young people recognizing the seriousness of the issue and take firm stand in preventative measures. One of the best examples is weight watching and blood test for diabetes kiosks around the colleges, universities, or even shopping malls. Finally, the launch of World Diabetes Day in 20-Nov-2011 was an eye opening experience for lots of people in UAE and raised the awareness of obesity and healthy eating habits to the highest levels. Of course, statistics are not yet encouraging, but the UAE approach is proven to be successful and the nation is on the right path in protecting future generations.

Conclusion

Our research observed various websites, articles and books, trying to identify currently discussed opinions and activities on the “Fast Food and Obesity” topic. It appears that lots of information accessible identifying the seriousness of the issue and covering awareness programs, citizen participation and government involvement.

Fast food and obesity as a cause of junk food consumption has become global problem in the world with millions people are still living in poverty and without access to clean water or daily meals. It appears that social standards are changing with major influence by media and western culture and healthy eating habits are slowly disappearing being replaced with the corporate fast moving-fast serving life style. As a result of business oriented environment and growing inflation, old fashioned home cooked healthy meals being replaced by questionable junk food as cheap solution.

Based on the information that we have gathered throughout project research, we have concluded that the fight against fast food and obesity is not an easy task. However, with the right determination and “word of mouth” tactic and support from the educational and governmental facilities, we can start implementing necessary changes and shape healthy future for young people in UAE for generations ahead.

We believe that first step is always the hardest but realization of importance will be our main force to break the bad eating habits and prevent obesity. In our opinion, the media is profit oriented in promoting bad foods, where the people needs and the consequences of eating fast food is not linked back to media. We need to use media, celebrities and famous people to promote healthy habits and not singers telling kids that soft drinks are cool.

References and Literature