WHO works on Dubai-led diabetes initiative

Dubai: Consultation for a regional task force to review, finalise and implement a Dubai-led initiative to improve children health, by focusing on weight, diet, physical activity and healthy lifestyle, began on Saturday and ends on Monday.

According to a press statement, the Regional Task Force on the Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is an outcome of the recommendations of the Third Arab Children's Health Congress, which is under the patronage of Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The focus is on reducing the burden rate of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases related to unhealthy lifestyles. The UAE has the second-highest prevalence rate for diabetes globally and highest among Gulf. Patients here are also suffering from cardiovascular disease at a young age.

Gulf News has reported children as young as 10 with Type II diabetes, usually known as adult-onset diabetes, and children as young as six categorised as pre-diabetes.