DOHA // By noon in Qatar's newest malls, the Starbucks and Costa are buzzing with patrons. They sip sugary coffee mixes and enjoy cakes as snacks — a tide-over for lunch later.
"It's really painful sometimes to watch," says Katie El Nahas, a dietician with the Qatar Diabetes Association. "They are eating so many calories and they're not aware."
As Doha has grown in recent years, so have its residents. Western restaurant chains have taken off, lifestyles have become more sedentary, and waistlines have expanded accordingly. A survey released by Qatar's Supreme Council for Health last week found that 70 per cent of the population is overweight, with 41.4 per cent obese.
Recently, however, a different kind of western trend has emerged in Qatar: dieting. Just as businesses have filled the demand for global fast food, they've also leapt at the chance to appeal to the newly health conscious.
Across from the coffee shops in Doha's City Centre mall, a non-fat frozen yogurt shop offers low-calorie snacks. The nearby Carrefour boasts an aisle with diet foods.
"Customers' shopping trends have changed over the years," says Ralph El Kahi of Spinneys, the British grocery store chain that has two stores in Qatar. Demand for health products is rising, he says. "The sugar free or zero fat in addition to the gluten-free products, oat range, natural compositions … we carry them all."
There are no statistics available, and the diet market is, by most estimations, quite small. But its potential is certainly great, as the few gyms and food businesses that have tapped it have already found.
"With the younger generation, [ideas about health] are starting to change. They want to look slender, they want to look good," says Sharoud Al Jundi Matthis, programme manager at the Qatar Diabetes Association. "Now, it's starting to happen that the healthier fast food places are coming in."
The same Supreme Health Council survey found that roughly half of all Qataris exhibit at least three of five measured risk factors - excess weight, smoking, and poor diet - for diabetes and other obesity-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease.
As elsewhere worldwide, poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are largely to blame. Fewer than one out of 10 Qataris are estimated to meet dietary recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption every day. About three-fourths do not exercise.
The prevalence of chronic conditions is having some impact on changing mentalities, Mr Matthis says.
Businesses that have managed to fit a measure of health into those already-formed habits have done well.
One example is the success of Edible Arrangements, an American franchise that has two locations in Doha, with plans for another. The company cuts fruits such as melons and strawberries into shapes to form edible gift baskets.
"Before, a Qatari used to give chocolates or cakes when they visited friends," says Moheb Yousef, who runs the franchises. "The main idea is you should now give fruit as a gift." He says that despite Qatar's heavy expatriate population, 80 per cent of his customers are local.
Gyms are another beneficiary of the slow, steady shift in mentalities.
During the night-time hours of Ramadan, dozens of residents of Wakrah, a suburb of Doha, flooded into a newly built gym for a new post-Iftar ritual. "Before, no one cared about their weight or working out," said Ali A Al Muftah, managing director of the Anytime Fitness centre. "But now they have realised that health matters."
Mr Al Muftah's gym became so popular during the holy month that he offered Ramadan-long memberships. Clients are not just joining the club; they actually show up. The gym estimates that between a fourth and half of its members use it every day.
He plans to open an additional gym - six times larger — in the coming months.
Mr Al Muftah also hopes to move more directly into the diet business by expanding into another segment of the market, introducing a meal supplement programme for its customers. Gym and store owners as well as public-health experts acknowledge that its customer base is still relatively small.
But education programs might be able to change that in the coming years. The focus of the Qatar Diabetes Association, for example, is on education. "We work on the younger generation, where we can change attitudes," says Mr Matthis.
The country's Supreme Health Council, with input from the Qatar Diabetes Association, is also working to build new dietary guidelines for school cafeterias. The country has forced soda and sweets machines out of schools.
But as more food chains pay attention to health, the options for dieters, both young and old, are on the rise.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
FORSPOKEN
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Final%20Fantasy%20XVI
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Diablo%20IV
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Baldur's%20Gate%203
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The%20Legend%20of%20Zelda%3A%20Tears%20of%20The%20Kingdom
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Starfield
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Company%C2%A0profile
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if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45' 1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
