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‘Start Walking’ to prevent diabetes
‘Start Walking’ to prevent diabetes Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 20 June 2013 A 30-minute brisk walk everyday can help, manage, reverse and even prevent diabetes. So, start walking. This was the message imparted by health and sports officials on Wednesday during the launch of ‘Start Walking’, a public health awareness campaign by the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC). Richard Cregan, Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, Suhail Al Ansari and Dr Michael Bitzer during the launch of the ‘Start Walking’ campaign in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. — KT photo by Shoaib Anwer Part of the ICLDC’s seventh ‘Diabetes-Knowledge-Action’ annual campaign, ‘Start Walking’ aims to encourage individuals, groups and organisations to hold mini-walks from now till November in the lead-up to Walk 2013 walkathon at Yas Marina Circuit on November 15, the day after World Diabetes Day. “Studies have shown that 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes per day of brisk walking can reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 58 per cent. That’s a huge reduction and we recommend this for everybody,” said Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, director-general of Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD). According to 2012 figures from the International Diabetes Federation, the UAE ranked 11 th worldwide in the prevalence of diabetes with an estimated 18.9 per cent of the adult population (20-79 years) living with the disease. “A relative improvement,” said Dr Barakat, noting that the UAE at one stage was top two. She attributed this to the efforts and initiatives, both at the local and federal level, as well as the media in raising awareness at schools and improving the community’s lifestyle. “It’s a remarkable impact when there are concerted efforts,” she pointed out. She stated, however, that 18.9 per cent is still “far too high”, three times the normal average of six per cent diabetes prevalence worldwide. Thus, more efforts are needed to encourage people here to be fit and healthy. This means doing physical activity such as exercise, having a healthy diet, maintaining normal body weight, smoking cassation and cutting down on salt intake, among others. Walking events that have been scheduled as part of the campaign include a 3km brisk walk on the ICLDC premises in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain on June 24, and ‘Take the Stairs Day’ at Daman’s office and the ICLDC’s centres on July 1. “Let us encourage one another, take the steps. Park your car a bit further and walk. A healthier workforce translates to more productivity,” remarked Suhail Al Ansari, executive director of Mubadala Healthcare and Chairman of the ICLDC. At the Yas Marina Circuit, host venue for Walk 2013, TrainYAS and GoYAS fitness sessions on the track is being held weekly. “We too want more people to put on their walking shoes and join us each week. Talking while walking is a great, family-friendly way to catch up on your day and keep fit together,” said Richard Cregan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management. Noting the financial impact and the social implication of diabetes if action is not taken now, Dr Michael Bitzer, CEO of the National Health Insurance Company, Daman, stressed the “fun” factor in walking. “We do not only focus that walking is healthy, walking can be fun (too). Have fun, then you can do it everyday,” he said. Daman will be participating this year through its health and lifestyle programme ‘ActiveLife’. Coming events 3km walk on ICLDC premises in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain on June 24 ‘Take the Stairs Day’ at Daman’s office and the ICLDC’s centres on July 1 Walk 2013 at Yas Marina Circuit on November 15 olivia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Dubai resident kills deadly snake at home
Dubai resident kills deadly snake at home Amanda Fisher / 19 June 2013 In the last month, Adnan Farhat has faced a house fire, an excess load of unwanted whiteware deliveries and he has now had to kill a deadly snake. Khaleej Times wrote about the Al Warqa resident last week after he was inundated by deliveries for unsolicited goods. While those have now stopped, the drama has continued, when about 7pm on Monday evening, as he was in the garden with his family, he noticed a snake slithering up the stairs into his house. Farhat said he grabbed two brooms and cornered the snake, identified by Dubai Municipality Wildlife and Zoo specialist Dr Reza Khan as a saw-scaled viper — the most deadly in the country. Khan said it was “very rare” to find one of these snakes in human dwellings, with the non-venomous hissing sand snake a much more common discovery. “I held it (with a broom) and used the other one to hit it, but no matter how hard I was hitting, it was still trying to attack me…it was jumping, but it was killed eventually,” Farhat said, estimating the whole episode lasted about five minutes. Farhat, who said the snake was only about 45 centimetres long but very aggressive, said he had been scared to tackle the snake but he did not have any other option. “I didn’t lose my nerve. My kids and wife were around and they were all scared. I was the only one who could handle it, if I let it go, then it could go into the garden and become a bigger threat for us as well as our neighbours.” Farhat’s wife and four children, aged between eight and 17, were worried overnight as they had read online that other snakes would use their strong sense of smell and go to the location of a dead or wounded snake. “We did not know what to do after we killed it — if there’s one there maybe more around it, you never know.” When he spoke with the municipality officials on Monday evening, they had told him they would come to the house to inspect it and spray the area with a deterrent. By Tuesday evening no one had appeared and if they did not, he said he would contract a private company in an effort to keep any future stray snake from wandering in. “Some relatives, when I was moving to this area, warned me there could be snakes but I didn’t believe them…but now I believe it.” Farhat said for now he and his family were hoping the next drama to hit would be a positive one. Khan said while it was rare to hear of a snake being found in a house, those who lived in areas such as Al Khawaneej, Mirdif, Mushrif, Al Awir and areas beyond Jumeirah and the Mall of the Emirates “could expect a snake or two once in a while,” as these areas were built in their former habitat. “These (areas) were snake country during the 1990s.” There was also a seasonal pattern, with snakes moving from the sparse vegetation of the desert to human habitations in semi-desert areas with the advent of summer. However, there had not been a noticeable number of snake finds recently and sightings appeared to be becoming less frequent, he said. “In general, snake numbers are going down because human habitations or urbanisation takes over the land once occupied by snakes.” How to handle a snake Dubai Municipality Wildlife and Zoo specialist Dr Reza Khan advised anyone who found a snake in or near their homes to attempt to kill it with a strong stick. However, he underscored no one should kill snakes that are found in the desert, which is their natural habitat. Khan also requested people to take photos of the snakes and send them over to him through the municipality at info@dm.gov.ae , so he can identify the snakes. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
About Dubai: Going organic? Shop here
About Dubai: Going organic? Shop here Nivriti Butalia / 15 June 2013 Organic Foods and Café on Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai is the one-stop shop for those who want everything — from eatables to cosmetics — as natural as it could be, but for a price Friday afternoons at the Organic Foods and Café on Shaikh Zayed Road are bustling with people pushing their shopping carts past vegetables that have been flown in from Africa, towards the aisles that stock soba noodles and miso and brown rice, onwards to the poultry section. A family-run organisation, this organic — and biodynamic — food supermarket and café, next to Oasis Centre, also sells organic supplements, skincare, cosmetics, baby items and household cleaning products. You’ll find, among other things, quinoa and amaranth on these aisles. Shopping at an organic store is not cheap. On some days of the month, on certain weekends, there is a 20 per cent off on all produce except cosmetics but the tea tree oil and eucalyptus toothpastes and handwashes are still around Dh20. There is a range of products called [A’Kin]. One product from the line is a paraben-free, soap-free and sulfate-free “energising all in one hair and body wash”, with Orange, Ginseng and Spice, that costs Dh38. But to people who are used to buying only organic produce, there is no alternative. Buddy Abrahams, 39, a commercial director, has been living in Dubai for 10 years and shopping at the Organic Foods and Café since the first branch opened nine years ago in Satwa. Abrahams, who says he is close friends with owner and founder Nils Al Eccad, has been a loyal customer since the Satwa store, moving on to the second outlet in the Greens Community in 2005. In 2008, the supermarket and café in Satwa was replaced with a new store three times the size in The Dubai Mall, followed by the opening of the supermarket in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and the supermarket and Café in Seef Mall, Bahrain. At the beginning of the year, the company closed their outlet in The Dubai Mall and opened this new flagship store on Shaikh Zayed Road, next to Oasis Center. A new shop in Village Mall in Jumeirah 1 is due to open in the coming weeks. You can find them on Facebook and get updates on which days the discounts are on. For someone like Abrahams, shopping anywhere else isn’t an option. He says he can “feel the difference in the taste” between organic and non-organic grown food. And the meat — he doesn’t touch the non-organic stuff that “is injected with hormones”, he says. “Why would you want to do that to your body?” He also says that he has had more energy since the switch to organic food many years ago. Both he and his wife cook with the produce they buy at the Shaikh Zayed Road store. For another customer, Deepa Phillips, a management trainer at Dubai Aluminium, this Friday was her first visit to the new and improved branch of the organic store. And she was on the lookout for white tea and quinoa – not nececssarily organic. She says the quality at the store — she’s been going to the branch at The Dubai Mall — is “second to none”. Other items on her regular shopping list include: Manuka honey and agave nectar. “My family calls me Miss Obsessive.” She’s also an advocate of grass-fed lamb, which is available at other stores throughout Dubai as well. At the café part of the store, there is a breakfast menu and a business lunch menu and everything on the menu is organic. Even the beef in the beef burger is organic. On the day Khaleej Times visited, on the list of specials is farfel pasta with chicken and mushroom sauce and black lentil with poached egg salad. The most interesting sections are the teas. There is elderflower and peppermint and chamomile and other soothing and detox varieties. The Organic Foods and Café has plans to expand, with new stores opening in locations throughout the GCC. It supplies over 12,000 hormone- and chemical-free products from producers throughout the world, as well as the largest gluten-free products in the region. With being so spoilt for choice, the one guarantee is the overall benefit to your health. The downside: shopping here could become a habit. — nivriti@khaleejtimes. com Continue reading
