According to community sources, a growing number of individuals in the local community, and in some expatriate communities, are aware of the problem and want to fight it.
This has led to a mushrooming of facilities that prefer to call themselves diet centres, which not only conduct tests and prescribe diet food to customers but also supply them that food.
All diet centres that claim to employ qualified and experienced dieticians essentially provide consultation to people about how to manage their diet and weight.
These centres charge a minimum of QR3,000 for consultation and supplying diet food to a customer for a month.
In addition, a number of restaurants have been springing up to cash in on the emerging trend among people to lose weight. These restaurants also are quite expensive.
People have been complaining that not only are the prices of these outlets very high, the food they serve also does not help them lose weight.
These outlets, for their part, reject such claims and say that eating diet food alone cannot help one fight obesity. What is needed is regular physical exercise and an active lifestyle.
Even as some people buy diet food from these centres, they continue to eat out. These centres insist that along with food, a change in lifestyle is a must to fight excess weight and obesity. “People don’t stick to the diet plan prescribed by these centres,” says an expert.
According to experts, stress also causes a number of diseases and the latest studies suggest that it can change people’s eating habits, leading to imbalances in food intake.
Some people, while stressed out, eat more and gain weight, which leads to other diseases, while there are others who tend to eat less and suffer from ailments resulting from lack of nutrition.
Some people, according to studies, eat more just because they feel bored and have nothing else to do.
“So it is very important to be watchful while stressed out about not only what you are eating but how much you are eating,” says a psychiatrist.
According to exercise physiotherapist Parag Parelkar, stress causes chemical imbalances in the body, and the ratio of good and bad hormones changes.
“The problem is, unhealthy hormones have a negative impact and that leads to ailments.”
So stress management is as important to maintaining a healthy body as regular exercise and a proper diet, he suggests.
Experts also say one must avoid eating while watching television or reading a book, for one tends to eat more. Antidepressants can also lead to weight gain.
