Participants in the StudyThe UAE took part in a global survey that looked at weight management among more than 9,000 respondents across 13 countries on five continents.
The participants in the project led by Synovate included United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, Romania, United States, Canada, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
Revealing Finds
The Synovate study uncovered the number one fast food nation. When asked to agree or disagree with the statement 'I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up', the most addicted nation was the United Kingdom with 45% agreeing.
Britons love their fish and chips, but only beat the Americans to the punch on fast food addiction by a small margin of one percent. A hefty 44% of Americans cannot give up burgers, pizza and wings, with the next most addicted nation Canada at 37%.
Obesity is a global issue. It is reaching epidemic proportions in developed nations and many developing countries now also have problems.
Reducing Weight in the UAE
The study asked respondents whether they were using a series of measures to either reduce or maintain their weight. Despite the growing girth of many nations, the most popular choice was using none of these measures at all at 40%.
Tackling exercise at home was most prevalent in the United States and United Arab Emirates (one third of all people say they use home equipment), Canada (31%) and United Kingdom (30%).
Trying Everything
People from the Middle East seem to throw everything at weight problems. Saudi Arabians, and those from UAE were among the top users for low-fat food products, herbs and supplements, meal replacements, weight loss courses, low-carbohydrate foods, diet plans, diet books, gym memberships, as well as home exercise equipment.
Andreas Zachariou, Managing Director of Synovate in UAE and Acting Managing Director of Saudi Arabia, said this was not surprising with more than half the population now classified as overweight or obese.
The entire article can be found at this link:
‘Global Weight Survey Looks at Scale Obsessions’, Synovate, 2 January 2008.
