The Health Ministry announced that 77.2 percent of Kuwaitis are overweight, with 40.3 percent suffering from obesity. This news comes amid reports of a growing rate of obesity and type 2 diabetes among Kuwaiti children, according to Arab Times Online .
Dr. Qais Douiri, the assistant undersecretary for technical affairs at the Health Ministry and the head of the health survey project said "The goal of the health survey is to obtain recent data on the prevalence of risk factors, rates of a smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and high blood pressure."
According to the study, more than a quarter of Kuwaitis have high blood pressure, with hypertension reaching 25.1 percent, diabetes reaching 14.6 percent. Moreover, 62.2 percent of Kuwaitis did not do enough physical activity during the week, with 38.8 percent of them not eating enough fruits and vegetables.
According to the Kuwait News Agency, the Kuwait Obesity Association has laid out a plan for 2016 to combat the disease, which includes holding lectures to raise awareness in schools, publishing a magazine on obesity, as well as setting up "Obesity Centers" in several health centers.
Dr. Yosif Bo Abbas, a member on the association's Board of Directors, said, "Obesity is an epidemic that has spread to most countries, and Kuwait registered on of the highest percentages in the Arab world, and the second globally."