UAE’s annual bill for tackling obesity set to hit $3.4bn
▶ Researchers in Abu Dhabi predict annual cost could be $3.4 billion by 2031
About 7.5 million people in the UAE are expected to be overweight or obese by 2035 at current rates of growth, with annual associated costs forecast to reach $3.4 billion a year by 2031, researchers in Abu Dhabi have found.
Scientists at Khalifa University’s College of Computing and Mathematical Sciences forecast that 1.6 million people in the country will have the condition by the beginning of the next decade, while even more will have major health problems. They used complex modelling to work out that the UAE’s annual bill for dealing with diabetes, based on 2021 prices.
The UAE has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world, reported at 18.7 per cent. Previous analyses have indicated that the figure could climb to 21.4 per cent by 2030.
The figures, which were released to mark World Obesity Day today, offer a stark warning to the coming healthcare challenges if urgent action is not taken. National obesity management standards were first introduced in 2008 in a bid to manage climbing rates, alongside polio eradication and cervical cancer-prevention strategies. The anti-obesity drive included a tax on sugar, dedicated health and activity months, and better fitness amenities for women.
Many health drives in the Emirates have been hailed a success, but the UAE is still struggling with increasing numbers of people who are overweight or obese. A quarter of adults are living with obesity in the UAE, including 22 per cent of people in Dubai. Ajman and Fujairah recorded the highest rates at 39 per cent. The report found that about 40 per cent of children in the UAE are obese or overweight. There were 7,622 deaths related to being overweight or obese in 2019.
Meanwhile, according to the federation’s annual World Obesity Atlas, the economic impact of obesity in the UAE is set to reach about 5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2035.
“The cost of business as usual with obesity, with fragmented and siloed efforts here as in most countries, means the UAE is expected to see a continued rise in the numbers of people living with obesity and increases in the economic impact of disability and death associated with the disease,” said Johanna Ralston, chief executive of the World Obesity Federation.
“The UAE has made a start and, armed with this new data, it is time to take decisive steps on turning the tide on the obesity epidemic. This data is an excellent opportunity for policymakers to implement new strategies aimed at reducing obesity and its associated economic burdens.”
A study suggests that the annual expense for managing Type 2 diabetes in the UAE may rise to $3.4 billion by 2031, up from $2.09 billion 10 years prior.
Researchers in Abu Dhabi forecast that 1.6 million people in the country will have the condition by the beginning of the next decade, while even more will have major health problems.
Sedentary lifestyles and poor diet in the Gulf region have contributed to soaring rates of diabetes, which can lead to heart disease, strokes, blindness, kidney problems and other medical conditions.
Scientists at Khalifa University’s College of Computing and Mathematical Sciences in Abu Dhabi used complex modelling to work out that the UAE’s annual bill for dealing with diabetes could reach about $3.4 billion a year in 2031, based on 2021 prices.
“We believe that this study will be valuable for decision-makers to comprehend the damage inflicted by this disease and take essential measures to manage [the] current diabetes situation and prevent further complications,” the authors wrote in their paper, published this month in Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences.
The UAE has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world, reported at 18.7 per cent.
Previous analyses have indicated that the figure could climb to 21.4 per cent by 2030.
Diabetes involves elevated levels of glucose in the blood and about nine out of 10 cases, the authors noted, are Type 2 diabetes, caused by the body becoming resistant to insulin or failing to make enough of the hormone.
While Type 1 diabetes usually develops in childhood and adolescence, and is an autoimmune disorder in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin, Type 2 diabetes is largely the result of lifestyle factors associated with people becoming overweight.
The World Health Organisation states that the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has risen “dramatically” in the past three decades “in countries of all income levels”.
Dr Abdishakur Abdulle, associate director of the public health research centre at New York University Abu Dhabi, said that it was “very important” that modelling of the kind featured in the new study was carried out to help scientists and policymakers understand the probable situation in the years to come.
He added that he was hopeful that the UAE could make progress in dealing with Type 2 diabetes and avoid some of the worst predictions regarding the impact of the disease.
“There’s been an ongoing effort on so many levels,” Dr Abdulle said.
“For example, in terms of prevention there’s a new programme from Abu Dhabi Department of Health, Ifhas, to identify people who are susceptible to diabetes – pre-diabetic – and people who have diabetes.”
He said a major problem was that many people did not realise they had diabetes, with a diagnosis made only after the disease had progressed to cause organ damage.
Efforts through Ifhas, a periodic screening programme, can ensure that people at risk make lifestyle changes or start treatment, Dr Abdulle said.
“Our society is well educated and most, if not all, understand the importance of prevention, the importance of acting on this type of predictive model,” he added.
“Yes, there’s a trend but this is amenable to change. To combat diabetes, we need to combat obesity, for example.” Figures published in 2020 by the World Obesity Federation indicate that 31 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men in the UAE are obese.
Dr Antje Hebestreit, head of the unit of lifestyle disorders at the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Germany, said that women in the Mena region could be at particularly high risk of becoming obese and developing health problems. “In many countries, it’s not common that women and girls are physically active and exercise,” she said.
“[They are] more sedentary and live more in the home environment.”
Dr Hebestreit said some countries had introduced measures to improve diets and reduce the risks of obesity and diabetes, such as taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.
The UAE has brought in levies, such as a 50 per cent tax on carbonated drinks and a 100 per cent tax on energy drinks, introduced in 2017.
People can act to reduce their risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, say experts.
Dr Hebestreit advised a healthy diet containing fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, and said drinking plenty of water is important. Making lifestyle changes is not a short-term process, said Dr Mirey Karavetian, a nutrition scientist at the University of Toronto who has researched obesity in the Gulf region.
She suggests allowing two years to gradually make the transition to a healthier lifestyle.
“A good way is to [set] realistic goals and timelines – in these two weeks do this – and moving from one step to another,” she said.
While having a good diet is important to prevent diabetes, “it doesn’t have to be punishment”, she said.
Instead, it should be “a little bit controlled”, with people being more mindful when they eat, by avoiding watching television or using a mobile phone during meals.
Sedentary lifestyles and poor diet in the Gulf region have contributed to soaring rates of diabetes