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Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has launched a battle to trim waistlines in its overweight population, which has become one of the world's foremost "obese societies", a seminar heard this weekend. American-style fast-food restaurants are part of the fabric of modern life in Saudi Arabia, with a mostly affluent population of around 24 million. Statistics released at a Health Ministry conference on Saturday showed that obesity affected 51 per cent of Saudi women and 45 per cent of men, as well as 29 per cent of teenage girls and 36 per cent of boys. The government says there is a specific danger to children, who can now make use of special telephone helplines. New campaign
"There are specific social practices which cause certain illnesses," television presenter Abdullah Al Fozan told the meeting, describing Saudi Arabia as an "obese society". Health experts say a spiralling increase in diabetes and other illnesses among Gulf Arabs has been the price of a rapid modernisation of their desert states. Most nationals of the region have switched to a Western-style sedentary life from a physically demanding nomadic existence over the last 50 years. A campaign to eat healthily and exercise, 'Weigh Your Life', has been launched in the Saudi media with help from public figures.
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