KUWAIT: The President of the Kuwaiti Association for Bariatric surgery and former Minister of Health Dr Mohammed Al-Jarallah said obesity is spreading rapidly in Kuwait as a result of modern lifestyle and negative nutritional practices.

“40 percent of the people in the country are overweight and 30 percent are suffering from obesity of various degrees,” Dr Al-Jarallah said on the occasion of World Diabetes Day. He stressed the importance of obesity surgery and its impact on the treatment of diabetics which has become a threat to every human being especially within the Arab world and the Gulf in general and Kuwait in particular.

He pointed out that it has become imperative to address obesity from its roots to reduce the risk of diabetes, and its consequent complications. He explained that radically changing the lifestyle is one of the best ways to reach the desired goal over the long-term.

“The number of obesity operations performed by GCC citizens annually reaches 100,000, which is a high percentage compared to the population,” he said. He described obesity as an epidemic that threatens the Gulf countries due to the changing patterns of social and nutritional life and people’s sedentary lifestyle.

He called upon the health authorities to develop plans and strategies to confront the epidemic and promote healthy lifestyles to reduce obesity-related diseases. “Surgical solutions are not the first but the best way to treat some cases of obesity,” Dr Jarallah said pointing out that Kuwait is one of the top 10 countries in the world in the rate of obesity operations for citizens, as it exceeds 5,000 operations annually, as a result of the spread of obesity.