Caitlin Dillon
With obesity rates on the rise globally, and with Qatar ranking 15th in the world, Qatar University held a Sports Science Program symposium, in which various experts were invited to share their research and findings related to tackling this snowballing issue.
Currently, 18.8% of Qatari males and 15.5% of Qatari females under the age of 20 are classified as obese, and these figures are on the rise.
With physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour now being considered the fourth leading cause of mortality, the National Health Strategy was initiated to attempt to tackle the issue, with the aim of achieving a 25% increase in the proportion of adults who meet the recommended levels of physical activity by 2022.
In 2006, 24% of the population were of a normal weight,39% were overweight and 29% were considered obese. By 2014, the country had a 4 obesity rate.
According to a Qatar Biobank report established in 2016-2017, 83% of the total population had low or no activity levels, while 4
did not participate in any activity at all during the week.