RIYADH: The awareness on healthy diet is on the rise in the Kingdom, say nutritionists and health experts. Both citizens and residents are becoming inquisitive and increasingly choosy about their dietary habits, said Dr. Abrar Hussain, a nutritionist at a hospital here. He said the number of enquiries he is getting on a daily basis on issues related to healthy lifestyle and dietary habits has increased remarkably. “Besides, advertisements on various media about foodstuff that is less in calories and rich in healthy nutrients could be one of the important factors to promote healthy lifestyle in the Kingdom,” he said. He said supermarkets are stockpiling food products, both locally produced and imported items, attracting the attention of buyers that are health conscious,” he said. For instance, the number of food items labeled as ‘low fat', ‘fat free', and ‘0' fat' made available in any of the supermarkets is evident of the fact that buyers for such products have already increased in the Kingdom. Awareness about the significance of healthy lifestyle and careful eating habits is slowly but firmly spreading in Saudi society today than ever before, said Hussain. This, he said, is due to an increase in the number of seminars and similar health education programs organized in the Kingdom by both public and private sector organizations. Medical experts have been issuing warnings about healthy eating habits and the consequences of sedentary lifestyle. Any negligence and paying not enough attention to these important issues could lead to health disorders. The most common among these disorders are high rate of diabetes and obesity in the Kingdom. Dr. Shafeeq Rahman, a general physician, said there is a misconception about fat and fatty food. He said people would be surprised to know that there are different types of fats, some of which add vital taste and flavor to food and yet others have real nutritional value that a human body needs on a daily basis. Moreover, he said fats are a source of energy and provide essential building blocks for the cells in the human body. There is a common misconception that all fats are bad for heart; there are certain types of fat that can actually help keep your heart healthy, he said. “So what's important is not just the amount of fat, but the type of fat you eat,” he said. He said saturated fats and trans fats are bad for health as they can increase cholesterol level in the blood. People, he said, are sometimes confused about labelling of types of fats in a product. Unsaturated (good) fats, divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are better for keeping the human body healthy, he said. Polyunsaturated fats, he said, are found in oily fish and certain plant oils including sunflower oil and spreads while monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, rapeseed oil, some nuts and avocados. The polyunsaturated fats (and to a lesser extent, monounsaturated fats) have been shown to lower cholesterol levels, helping in maintaining a healthy heart, he explained. Consumers, he said, should be aware that the saturated fats are found in fatty meats, butter, cheese and full cream milk, while trans fats are mainly found in processed foods, such as cakes and pastries. Hence it is advisable for people not to consume bakery food quite so often, he said. He said the availability of green tea of various types is the latest trend in Saudi Arabia. “Every office and home has cartons of green tea,” he said referring to increased awareness about healthy herbal drinks including different types of tea, which the Saudis are fond of. “For this reason the Saudi nationals are more careful about their lifestyles, especially since Saudi Arabia's is an open market and the food is readily available at affordable prices,” he said. More awareness programs are needed in Saudi Arabia to determine cultural influences in developing eating habits that lead to obesity and other health disorders. Strategy to prevent obesity in Saudi Arabia should include encouragement of physical activity, reduced intake of high fat foods and behavior modification. People should be encouraged to measure their body mass index popularly known as BMI Measurement based on calculation of height and weight. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification of BMI defines overweight when the BMI is between 25-30 and a BMI of above 30 is obesity.
