Cut the fat…

Cut the fat…

Nearly 1 in 2 Physical Education teachers in the UAE are found to be overweight. Kipp laughs at the irony of the situation.

August 7, 2012 9:40 by Eva Fernandes

You know you are in the UAE when you read about Physical Education teachers at schools needing a lesson or two in physical education. According to a recent study, the Ministry of Education found 55 percent of male physical education teachers and 45 percent of female physical education teachers here in the UAE were overweight. What is more, of these 36.3 percent of the men and 19.6 percent of the women were found to be obese as per their BMI (Body Mass Index).

While some blame budget cuts and lack of motivation, others says the onus rests with the teachers themselves. Zaghdoud Mohamed, physical education supervisor at the Sharjah Education Zone told The National: “PE teachers have to start moving more.”

Though Kipp finds the irony of the situation rather amusing, we are mindful of just how serious a problem this is. After all considering the UAE’s increasing obesity problems more needs to be done. Last year the Ministry of Health released some shocking statistics about the children of the UAE: with 21 percent of the children admitting to consuming fast food three times or more a day should it be surprising that more than 15.5 percent of the children are obese and 39.2 percent are overweight? On a list of 177 countries, earlier this year the UAE came in at the seventh place on the Global Fat Scale. Yikes.

It is all very well to point fingers, but at the end of the day there is a genuine problem with the lifestyle choices being made by UAE’s residents and citizens. Getting PE teachers in top shape is a good start but it is a guaranteed solution.