UAE to develop new plan to combat obesity in children and adolescents

UAE to develop new plan to combat obesity in children and adolescents

The plan aims to promote healthy lifestyles and enhance the well-being of children and adolescents. Led by Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Public Health Sector, the workshop was attended by Nouf Khamis Al Ali, Director of the Health Promotion Department, as well as representatives from relevant departments. "Improving the health of children and adolescents is a national health priority as part of the UAE’s responsive and sustainable health care system, which strives to prevent diseases resulting from obesity. This comes in line with the UAE’s sustainable development plans and is based on the framework for combating obesity in children. We are forging ahead towards realising this target in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) action plan to prevent non-communicable diseases," said Al Rand. He stated that the updated version of the National Programme to Combat Obesity in Children and Adolescents is being carefully prepared, based on the results of the previous version that achieved its goals. According to the latest statistics resulting from the periodic examination of school students, obesity rates among children and adolescents reached 17.3 per cent, he added. He stressed that promoting children's health falls under the goals of the National