Put out your chest

Put out your chest

Thanks to increasing levels of obesity, men in Dubai are going under the knife to reduce their breasts, says a report.

December 17, 2009 1:58 by kippreport

An increasing number of men in Dubai suffering from a condition called gynaecomastia or enlarged breasts, and are now resorting to surgery to flatten their chests, reports Xpress newspaper. ”We receive at least four to five patients every month, 90 percent of whom are Emiratis in their 20s,” Dawood Sulaiman, a doctor at the International Aesthetic Medical Centre told the paper.

He said several men suffer from the condition mainly because of obesity, hormonal imbalances and use of steroids or muscle-building proteins. According to him, despite diets and exercise, the breasts remain large in some men, and so they undergo cosmetic surgery to remove the excessive skin and fatty tissue. The surgery can cost between AED7,000 and AED12,000, says the report.

“I used to feel shy to go out with my family on the beach for a swim,” Khalid, a Saudi businessman in Dubai who had his breasts reduced told the paper. “My kids used to ask me why my breasts looked like their mother’s. But now I feel more confident about myself.”

That sounds like something one might hear in an advertisement, but nonetheless, the obesity problem in the UAE is reaching new levels. Developing man-boobs so big that they need to be surgically removed is funny and scary at the same time.

The huge anti-obesity hoardings in Dubai should replace the picture of a huge bellied man with a picture of a huge breasted man; it will probably have a bigger impact.