Conference on obesity to focus on patient care

A patient summit will be organised by World Obesity on Thursday in Muscat, bringing together patients from around the region.

They will also engage in dialogue about their own personal experiences of living with obesity and how they have navigated the healthcare systems in their own country.

The forum will focus on the critical issue of obesity amongst women and children, and the crucial role mothers play in shaping healthy diets and lifestyles.

The World Obesity Federation is a global network which represents members drawn from the scientific and medical communities from over 60 international obesity associations, with increasing participation from around the Gulf region.

In response to the interest shown and the need for dedicated obesity groups, World Obesity helped start the Gulf and Lebanon Steering Committee to address rising obesity levels. A number of initiatives have since started in the region, including the Patient Summit in Muscat.

The World Obesity Federation supported by regional groups such as the NDEC and ODA, and in collaboration with Gulf Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society, will be hosting the regional conference at Sheraton Oman.

Doctors from the Gulf region and dignitaries from the US, will debate several issues, from the psychological challenges associated with addictive foods to how Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed through weight loss. It will also seek to explain why women are more susceptible to obesity than men, and the hereditary threat posed to children as obesity develops into a transgenerational disease.

The Chair of the conference and one of the keynote speakers is Dr Noor al Busaidi. She has worked as a senior consultant physician at The Royal Hospital, together with being Chairperson of the National Diabetes Committee within Oman’s Ministry of Health.

Dr Noor said, “Women play a pivotal role as the guardians of the health and well-being of families. Evidence suggests that women in the region are more prone to obesity, impacting fertility, contributing towards diabetes and causing cardiovascular disease. Metabolic changes during pregnancy can also increase the risk of children developing obesity.”

The president of the World Obesity Federation, Dr Donna Ryan, will also be addressing the conference.