There is an article on CNN about Kuwait and obesity in which they’re blaming obesity on fast food joints and the fact that there is little to do in Kuwait but eat. I personally would have to disagree with that idea since blaming fast food joints and the lack of activities is the easy thing to do.
Fast food joints are everywhere in every country and the only way they play a role in obesity is if you go and eat there. Its people who make the decision to go with fast food when other healthier choices are available. If I can quit junk food ANYONE can quit junk food. I also disagree with the lack of activities part since other than clubbing and pubbing there are a ton of activities to do. Now if it was 1994 then yeah I might agree with that but today there are way more things to do then back then (we only had ice skating!).
Eat healthier people and keep reading Fahad’s post. Here is a link to the CNN article [Link]
35 replies on “Fast food-loving Kuwaitis battle the bulge”
SO true
Exactly.. i will tell you why.. because clubs and pubs is the only major thing they haf to do.. 😀
I totally agree! we are more health conscious now and there are more healthy options than we used to in the ninties…plus boogying in your living room is considered an activity if you didn’t have anything better to do 😉
In Kuwait there is nothing to do beside eating. Disagree as much as you want, but eating out is the only thing Kuwaitis do.
plenty to do here IF you want to- only thing is the heat in summer. There are loads of fruit shops everywhere too- so why aren’t we fruit junkies…..
“Tables groan under the weight of multi-course banquets laid on by competitive hostesses, often aided by maids.”
And what exactly is their point, it’s not like they don’t have maids in the US ! Seriously, it seems like it kills them that we have maids
I think “aided by slaves” would have been more appropriate
You’re right about what you said, Mark. But you gotta admit, out of all the positive things from that you could adopt from Globalization, Kuwait and Kuwaitis adopted the negative aspects.
Fast Food + Car lifestyle= Lazy unproductive peoples.
I think one thing the Kuwaiti government could do is pay people to lose weight.
unfortunate laughter @Ed’s comment. You are so right.
Meanwhile, Mark pointing out a VERY good point– fast food joints always get blamed as if people are forced to go there. They wouldn’t be so prevalent if so many people didn’t frequent them– my god there are TRAFFIC JAMS outside Mcdonalds! Never see that in any other country.
Also, about this there being things to do– what’s a good place to find out such things. And I would really LOVE to see a list that doesn’t include “shopping” as an activity. OR “driving on Gulf Road”! I’ve seen the basketball courts near Marina Mall (busy as they are, I’m glad they are there), but just going around, I can’t even figure out where I can jump in a little soccer game or something!
Mark, you said there are a ton of things to do. Apart of ice skating, what other things can a teenager do except Marina/Avenue, cinema and fast food? Libraries? What one is really looking for is easily accessible and safe locations/activities to go to but I guess it’s impossible with such weather in summer. It is affecting everything. You can’t walk in the 50 degrees celsius oven outside your home. Don’t get me wrong though, it is still nice in Kuwait.
Mohammed: The exact same things you can do anywhere else. Museums, galleries, movies, RC racing, kite flying, jet skiing, basketball, we have a ton of great astro turf soccer fields, arcades, amusement parks, shooting, skeet shooting, horse riding, ice skating, swimming, off roading, bicycle clubs, karting, cooking classes, wall climbing, jogging, archery, model building, gyms, camping, fishing etc.. etc..
3azeez: Eating out is the only thing they do doesn’t mean its the only thing to do.
Mark I think you got this one wrong buddy. We are limited to certain activities in Kuwait. Now I Can understand why you would say there are a lot of things to do in Kuwait because you don’t want to upset the people who read this blog and the majority who read this blog are Kuwaitis. But I know Kuwaitis who complain to me of all people that they get bored easily. I’ve heard many foreigners say the same thing. I guess what I’m saying is that we all have our own opinions and I respect that. but most if not all people I know so they get bored of Kuwait easily due to lack of activities.
This brings me to my second point. The lack of activities shows in the youth of Kuwait. I have seen many young people and they are overweight. God bless them, let them eat but they should eat responsibly. Now a number of factor can be to blame but the main factors are either their parents or the amount of fast food chains. And I am not talking about your average Mcdonalds or KFC, I am talking about the restaurants beside the houses who serve fatty foods.
Another factor is the money Mark. Health Stop, one of the healthiest places to eat from, is sort of expensive. Now I know that is not an excuse but money matters in the world we live in now. I would rather pay for a McDonalds double cheese burger instead of paying more for a cheese burger at Health Stop.
Sorry for ranting on but just thought I should with you guys of my impression and view of Kuwait.
Mohammed: The summer heat only lasts from 10 am to 4 pm. And summer is not the whole year. But I agree with on the Library thing. Kuwait definitely needs more of those.
Moe: Look up the things Mark wrote up. If the people you mention are careless or unaware about such places and activities, then they are most likely boring and uncreative. But I agree on the food issue.
1. Education and awareness. The first and foremost thing. This needs to be drilled into kids at an early age. You cant just rely on parents to do this. Schools need to do this. Health education and sports need to be a very important part of curriculumn. Kids from an early age need to be taught about nutrition, health and fitness, exercising and training. They need to be involved in sports at schools at least 2 or 3 times a week. Ofcourse you need the govt. to do this. This is the only way you can affect the mindset and behaviours of a majority of the population. God I think back to the junk we used to eat at school. Donuts, pizzas, burgers, chips, chocolates, sodas, juices. Awful junk. And this was at one of the best private schools in the country!
2. Also, the govt. can run massive awareness campaigns. Setup a nutrition and health agency which does this.
3. Regulation. Govt. needs to regulate food. Fast food should not be allowed to sell close to schools. Their advertising should be limited. Heck I think they should heavily tax fast food and all unhealthy food. Same for cigarettes and shisha.
Regulation is also important for food quality control, nutriotional labelling, what can and cant be sold. I mean the fact that you find so much food without any nutritional labels, the fact that nutritional labels are not even required by law, it really tells you something and standards and regulation concerning food and health.
4. Sedentry lifestyle. Unfortunately this is part of the culture and takes ages. And changing culture is extremely difficult. I mean when people pull up to stores and honk to get someone to come out and bring them stuff, you know somethings wrong with society.
I agree with Moe.Eating healthy in Kuwait is expensive and there really isn’t much to do.Outdoor activities in the summer heat is not possible.
The latest figures for the prevalence of obesity in Kuwait is 47.5% almost half the population. For being overweight the figure is 80.4% (Al-Rashed & Al-Nesef).
Obviously the reason is too much food and not enough physical activity.
Driving everywhere doesn’t help. Little things like walking a little throughout the day and taking the stairs add up.
We need to make it easier for people to spend more energy throughout the day and harder for people to drive. More physical activity at schools would be a good idea too.
I can’t read Fahad’s posts, when they’re not incomprehensible they’re factual incorrect.
They mention that Fast Food delivery is to blame, not just going to the places.
There’s plenty of stuff to do In Kuwait for Guys as for gals it’s a different issue (societal pre assure and expectations, streets full of nut jobs chasing women in gulf rd leads to crashes etc) I used to be constantly busy in Kuwait don’t have the time to sleep, every week we would organize a scuba diving trip near one of the islands in kuwait which are beautiful there would be 30 of us good times. Unfortunately people have to point to the lack of pubs/alcohol etc. Yes alcohol helps you loose weight forget beer bellys.
And they just have to mention maids in the articles they just can’t get over the fact we have maids. Forget the thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants working in the farms and ranches in the sw usa with no healthcare and no drivers license privileges no but they have maids. And those mexicans work way below minimum wage that’s how they got their jobs in the first place. But god forbid MAIDS those kuwaitis are modern slave traders.
I agree that eating healthy is more expensive but the article also points out that over 70 percent of the population is obese. Obesity doesn’t only exist in certain classes, it exists in all the classes.
I agree with Roger and Mohammed. That’s all.
Suleiman,
I probably give you nightmares now.
Mark,
Thanks for the great post. Will be writing a brief feedback on the subject.
I’d say it’s only nice and bareable to do outdoor activities here 1/2 the year. The other 1/2 people are either holed up in their houses or participating in mass exodus like in the summer. And if you want to eat out anywhere that is the least bit health minded, it’s going to cost you some dough. Combined with the limited resources people have to buy sporting supplies (and when there is a resource, the price is jacked up 3 fold) – kuwait is indeed a pretty boring place. The same museums over and over, the censored movies.. It lends itself to the sedentary lifestyle very well.
I haven’t read the article yet but as for the maid comment, I surmise its less about the fact that maids are prevalent here but rather the complete ridiculousness that people feel the need to cart their maids around to go shopping or eating so they have someone to wrangle their kids. In other places it’s called parenting and it’s not optional.
A couple things….
First, I think the point of mentioning maids is not about the treatment of maids or pay, just that it is easier to serve a TON of food if you have someone else helping with the work (as in, the people are not even MAKING the food themselves when they are at home).
Secondly, parents here are the major blame. I have taught in expensive private schools in Kuwait for over 8 years, and it is the same all the time – little kids come to school with lunches that are fast food, chips, soda, cookies, candy, etc, that are packed from home. Someone might blame the maid or nanny, but it is the PARENT’S responsibility.
Thirdly, the school I am currently at has a food counter. I was by the counter (I was getting an apple and a water) and a mom walked in with her KG2 son – mom was on the phone; she walked her son through the food line, and the boy picked out a donut, a soda, and 2 bags of chips. Mom paid (still on phone), and went and sat at a table, talking on the phone, while her little 5- year old ate all that junk at 7:15 in the morning.
No wonder the kids are unhealthy here…
Thank god Kuwait doesn’t have pubs or clubs. There is nothing better than eating junk food after the party, hot dogs, Mcdonalds, Burger King u name it !
But still i agree with Mark,
It has to do with the people not the food.
see Lebanon for a change, our food is all fried and unhealthy yet men take care of themselves more than girls here !
I’m loving how healthy you’ve become, keep it up Mark 🙂
@Mark:
Thanks for responding to my comment. You have convinced me. 🙂
Wait till the new activity I am going to post tonight 😉
Mark i strongly agree with u!
well, infact if ppl here concentrate at least in their works or businesses they will never jump to any other meaningless acts or activities or even they will never had a bad food habit! cuz simply they will be busy improving their lives and works, and that kind of person (successful person) surly will also concentrate on their own health! now a days healthy food has linked with prestige to become a part of any successful personality!
Whover wrote the CNN article did not mention that although in Kuwait tables groan with the weight of food, trash baskets cannot keep up with the leftovers! Yes there are many obese people in Kuwait but so are there in the US, UK and many parts of the world, it’s a universal issue. I recently read an article about how obesity rates particularly in children is soaring in the US along with diabetes and high bp.
I agree with Mark, we can’t blame fast food or inactivity, there are many things to do in Kuwait even in the blazing summer, swimming comes to my mind, I always go swimming whenever am in Kuwait.
Strange… I lived in Kuwait for 7 years and recently moved to Germany. I didn’t gain any weight in Kuwait but I’ve put on 10lbs since I moved to Germany. Must be all the tastey beer and schnitzel!!!
Nobody has mentioned the drink aspect of weight gain. (By ‘drink’ I’m reffering to Coke/Pepsi etc!)
The government allow consumers here to drink gallons of the stuff for next to nothing by keeping prices obscenely low. Less than 100 fils for a sugar-laden carbonated drink:(
And has anyone noticed that Diet Coke(1.6 calories per litre)is not the standard here, but an unusual alternative to regular Coke (435 calories per litre)?
Start taxing the bad things and you’ll find people suddenly switching to alternatives.
Also, this is not so much about what we do as adults. Eating habits are formed early and are hard to break. Seeing children stuffing their obese faces with crap breaks my heart. Hearing parents who are unable to say ‘no’ simply giving in and letting kids order junk food again and again is just irresponsible parenting.
In the majority of countries, if you overfeed your dog or cat in such a way, it is considered cruel and you are banned from keeping pets.
Now there’s an idea!
The article is also not so much about Kuwait, it’s about Kuwaitis.
Don’t see too many obese Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait!
i disagree with this article. I was at the airport startving.
other than fast food, what can i eat?
don’t say costa – cuz its ridiculous to pay that much for a sandwich (which, is unhealthy)