- VLCC to launch Anti Obesity Drive, 18thNov to 18th Dec
- Major awareness campaign to include high profile panel discussion on “Discrimination against the Obese”
- VLCC campaign to culminate with a Cycle-a-thon
Dubai - With over 250 million obese adults worldwide, the World Health Organization considers obesity as a major public health problem. It is predicted that, by 2015, over 700 million adults will be pronounced obese worldwide. Closer home, UAE records one of the highest rates of obesity in the world with almost 70 percent of the population suffering from the malady. And still, wherever we see an obese person dozing off somewhere, we laugh.
VLCC, Middle East’s premier scientific slimming, beauty and preventive healthcare brand, has stood up to this shocking statistic by taking the first step to put up a united fight against the surge of obesity in UAE. With the active involvement of the medical fraternity and health authorities in India, VLCC designated November 26 as the Anti Obesity Day. VLCC now observes Anti Obesity Day every year in UAE, Oman, Bahrain and India. This year VLCC’s Anti Obesity Awareness Campaign will be an extensive month-long drive.
Commenting on the drive to fight obesity in UAE, Sandeep Ahuja, the CEO of VLCC International, said: “VLCC’s Anti Obesity Day marks our mission to create greater awareness about obesity and related diseases in the region. With this comprehensive drive, VLCC is attempting to not only tackle the huge onslaught of the ailment in UAE but to also focus society’s behavior towards healthy living”.
According to statistics released by the World Health Organisation, the UAE has been ranked 18
th in the list of countries that have the most number of overweight and obese people. The statistics also show that 33.7 percent of adults in the UAE are obese and 19.5 percent of them suffer from diabetes.
Like every year for the past nine years, this year too VLCC has taken the initiative for raising public awareness on the risks of obesity across the UAE using all kinds of traditional and non-traditional media including above and below the line advertising, public relations and community activities.
On the 24
th of November 2009 VLCC has planned a special panel discussion by bringing together leading members of the government, the medical fraternity and civil society to dwell on a so-far-unexplored aspect of obesity: ‘discrimination’. Speakers from various disciplines and experts in the field of obesity and weight management will be sharing their perspectives, experiences and comments on discrimination against the obese.
“Racial, social, political and economic discriminations have been debated at various platforms and we wanted to point out how discrimination creeps into every aspect of the lives of even the obese. Working, social and academic life of an obese person has often been strewn with overt and covert discrimination making it difficult for the obese to integrate within the society. Our aim with this panel discussion is to gather different opinion formers to bring a sensitive issue to the forefront that has never been tackled nor addressed before and encourage them to take the leadership to fight against this social issue,” says Ahuja about the Panel Discussion.
To further strengthen and increase public awareness on obesity, this year VLCC has come up with an information campaign, giving details about various serious diseases and their linkage with obesity. These leaflets will be distributed through all VLCC centres and at various public places.
As another step in a series of initiatives VLCC along with a leading NGO will be organizing a 10 Km cycle-a-thon to urge the public to participate and raise awareness for the cause of fighting obesity and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The cycle-a-thon is planned to take place on December 18
th, at Jumeirah Beach Road, commencing from Port Rashid, next to the biggest flag of UAE.
In order to provide comprehensive information on the drive, VLCC has also created a dedicated website -
www.antiobesityday.com - which attempts to answer all possible queries on obesity including tips, advise on physical activities and even revealing some interesting beauty secrets. Visitors to the site can also calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI) instantly.
For the latest activities on Anti Obesity drive please visit
www.vlccinternational.com and
www.antiobesityday.com 
