One of KSA’s most advanced hospitals for heart disease has said that almost three-quarters of Saudi Arabians over the age of 45 are obese – leading to a pandemic of cardiac problems and diabetes.
Dr Muheeb Al-Abdullah, senior consultant for gastrointestinal and cardiac diseases at the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center has conducted a five-year study with a massive sample of 17,232 Saudis.
The study found that 36.9 percent of all Saudis are obese, rising to a shocking 72.5 percent in the over-45s.
Almost a quarter of the population – 23.7 percent – were found to have diabetes and a quarter were diagnosed with some form of heart disease.
Presenting the results of the study at a conference in Riyadh, Dr Abdullah said that the Kingdom was sitting on a ticking time bomb that only a dramatic change in behaviour would change.
Smoking, overeating fatty foods and a lack of exercise are leading to health problems of biblical proportions, his study concluded.
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