Oman marks World Obesity Day

Muscat: The Ministry of Health on Monday marked the World Obesity Day, in a celebration convened virtually by the World Obesity Federation, and witnessed wide participation worldwide.

Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health participated in a recorded speech where he affirmed that the increasing rates of obesity cases in Sultanate of Oman are currently the same in the different countries of the world.

The health minister added that the precautionary and preventive measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19 for the past period have resulted in inactivity, hence the incidence of obesity and overweight has increased.

He suggested that the solution to creating change starts with the individuals and ends with governments and world countries by finding out social, preventive, and educational resolutions beyond the health sector.

The event dealt with a number of important topics on priorities and perspectives to addressing obesity.

World Obesity Day is a unified day of action that calls for a cohesive, cross-sector response to the obesity crisis.

Hundreds of individuals, organisations and alliances across the world contribute to World Obesity Day every year.

Previous World Obesity Days have encouraged people to recognize the root causes of obesity, increase knowledge of the disease, tackle weight stigma and foreground the voices of people with lived experience.

This year, it is focusing on the simple message that ‘Everybody Needs to Act’ to improve the world’s understanding, prevention and treatment of obesity. Moreover, World Obesity Day aims at improving policies and creating a healthy environment that prioritizes obesity as a health issue to build the right support systems for the future.