Social Slave

According to a new index devised by Save the Children, Kuwait ranks 47 out of 161 countries as one of the best countries for child health care. The Health Worker Index measures the reach of health workers around the world and factors in the proportion of children who receive regular vaccinations and mothers who have access to life-saving emergency care at birth. The World Health Organization says a minimum of 23 health workers are needed for every 10,000 people in order to deliver essential maternal and child health services.

Below are the ranks for the GCC countries:
Qatar – 20
Kuwait – 47
Oman – 54
Bahrain – 59
UAE – 60
Saudi Arabia – 73

[Link]

I was just reading on Gulf News that Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) recently conducted a study into 82 weight loss products and found many of them contain ingredients that have major cardiovascular and psychiatric side effects.

The products contain an ingredient called Yohimbine that is banned in UAE since 1988 because it causes cardiovascular side effects, heart failure and even death. Other common ingredients in these fat burning pills are Ephedra that causes psychiatric symptoms, palpitation and death while another called Tryptophan causes a potentially fatal muscle disorder that could lead to death too.

Here are the ten products have been recommended to be taken off the shelves:

- Hydroxycut Hardcore
- Hydroxycut Max for Women
- Redline
- Lipo 6
- Lipo 6 Hers
- Lipo 6X
- Lipo 6 Black
- Xenadrine RFA-X
- Dymaburn Xtreme
- Atro-phex

Reading all these harmful side effects, Kuwait should ban these products as well if they haven’t already because a lot of people in Kuwait including some of my friends take these pills and they would always find them sold out at all the stores. Even Hash’s gym trainer had once suggested him to take these pills for making it faster to lose a few kilos but he didn’t. The pills actually worked for the people I know but as soon as they stopped taking them they put it all back on and more with other health conditions. In the end, a good balanced diet and regular exercise is the only way to lose weight safely and keep it off. So steer clear of these supplements.

[Source]

McDonald’s is trimming their Happy Meal to make it more ‘healthier’. Well it is a first tiny step since the changes are not that big really. The new Happy Meals will roll out in April 2012 and will have half portion of the fries and few small slices of apple by default and a choice of low-fat chocolate or white milk. Customers can still get all fries or all apples if they choose and soda also remains an option. The toy stays too in spite of all the heat they’ve been getting for attracting kids to junk food.

Here’s the change in the nutritional information IF the customers go for the split portion of apples and fries with low fat milk:

 
They have also planned to reduce 15% sodium by 2015 and cut sodium, added sugars, saturated fats and calories by 2020. But all this change is ONLY for their US restaurants and menus in response to Michelle Obama’s action against childhood obesity. What about the rest of the world? Obesity in Kuwait is one of the highest in the world with about 80% either overweight or obese. If they are making a healthier change, shouldn’t it be for everyone?

[Source]

According to a recent seminar on ‘Living with Cancer’ organized by Kuwait’s Business and Professional Women’s Club, the rate of deaths from breast cancer among women in Kuwait is considered the world’s highest and it is mainly because of a lack of awareness and delay in detection of the disease.

The chart above shows the percentage of women with breast cancer in different age groups, which is a lot. It is very important for all women aged 20 and over to perform regular BSE checkups and have annual screening which would help reduce deaths and increase the chances of recovery by 90% if the cancer is detected early.

[Source]

The Cancer Aware Nation “CAN” has launched a photography competition to raise awareness for cancer prevention through healthy food choices as the theme of the competition. The participants will have to focus on the quality and quantity of healthy food vs. unhealthy food as well as the healthy and unhealthy methods of cooking in their photographs.

Click [Here] for more information and the terms of the competition.

Prizes:
1st place: KD 1,000
2nd place: KD 200 and gift vouchers
3rd, 4th and 5th place: KD 50 and gift vouchers
6th to 10th place: Gift vouchers
* Certificate of Appreciation will be awarded to all participants.

Sultan Center has a Farmer’s Market at their Sharq branch where they have displayed fresh locally produced fruits and vegetables, dairy products and honey. Now this is a good idea to promote the local Kuwaiti produce and make it easily available to everyone. I’m not sure whether they have this everyday and if it’s only at the Sharq branch, I’ll have to find that out.

Don’t they have something similar at the Fish Market next door? I’ve only been there a couple of times few years ago and we had bought fresh cream and honey when we went to get some fish, and I saw that they had fruits and vegetables as well.

I was at the Amiri Hospital some time ago to visit my grandmother who got admitted last night but she looked better and it was nice to meet all the family there. I had gone straight from work so my sister and I went looking for something to eat when we came across this bright and happy looking café that we never saw before.

The café is actually a part of the Patients’ Helping Fund and I’m not sure how long it’s been there. I asked the guy at the counter and he said that all the government hospitals have a PHF café where they serve healthy drinks, sandwiches and desserts. He said that some of the hospitals have different designs, so has anyone seen a different PHF café? They are designed by Urbane Design Intervention in Beirut, Lebanon.

I had the Thai Chicken Saj wrap which cost 0.850 fils. The guy grilled it up for me and it wasn’t bad. There are all sorts of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes, muffins, biscuits and chocolate gift trays.

They have this Traffic Light Food Labeling system and they stick a red, yellow or green sticker on all their items depending on the calories and fat.

I loved the cute little mini cookies but didn’t get any since I had helped myself to a couple of chocolates earlier.

Overall its a nice little café that brightens up the hospitals and offers better and healthier food choices. And they don’t even have the soda vending machines either. I remember how we would buy all sorts of junk snacks every time we went to visit someone so this is a good step in the right direction.

Recently my aunt and brother in law had been told by the doctors that they have a Vitamin D deficiency and I was really surprised that in a country like Kuwait with a long and blazing summer, it’s highly ironic for its residents to have an astonishingly high rate of Vitamin D deficiency.

And I just read it in Kuwait Times that during a recent medical conference held in Kuwait they presented research about the Vitamin D and calcium deficiency in Kuwait.

With all this sun and plenty of Calcium and Vitamin D enriched foodstuff widely available in Kuwait, how is this possible?

Read the full article [Here]

I just got an email from the Six Senses Spa that the spa will be ready for show around on 1st June 2011. It is on the second floor of the Hotel Missoni, just after the pool. They have invited me to go and have a look around at the facilities in the spa and get more details on their exclusive membership and treatment menu.

Here are the links to their [Website] and [Spa Packages] or you can contact them on 25770077.

May 31st is World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). It was created by the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 and is observed around the world every year on May 31st to encourage a 24-hour abstinence from all forms of tobacco across the globe and draw attention to the negative health effects which leads to deaths worldwide.

Here is a look at Kuwait’s ‘smoking’ figures according to the Ministry of Health:

• 3% of Kuwait’s population are smokers
• An average of 2,330 cigarettes are consumed by a regular smoker each year in Kuwait
• KD 72 million is spent annually on smoking in Kuwait

But as per the Kuwait Society for Preventing Smoking and Cancer (KSSCP), the good news is that around 35% of smokers had quit in 2010 and the MOH is also working hard to combat this habit and its consequences.