The women’s majlis: A healthy attitude is key to health in the UAE

Each month, Weekend will pose a different question to be debated on by a series of female Emirati columnists. This week, we ask Mariam Aldaheri:

What are the best ways to improve the overall health of UAE citizens?

Being healthy is not necessarily being free from disease. A person might suffer from diabetes mellitus and still be healthy, while another person without any specific illness might be unhealthy. How come?

A healthy person is someone who is physically and mentally well and is not doing their body and soul any harm, and even if they are ill they are still able to live normally.

We live in a beautiful modern country that has achieved a lot in little time. However, our lives have been rushed along with all this modernisation and new trends; so much so that we pay very little attention to our health. We say that we are too busy. But when (Allah forbid) we suffer from an illness we suddenly pause to think about the causes. Unfortunately, we soon move on again and we just want a quick solution for it. Pills are much easier to swallow than taking on serious resolutions to change our unhealthy habits.

On one hand we are lucky enough to have a sound health system in the UAE that is trying to increase the quality of its services in addition to implementing health awareness programmes. On the other hand both the public and our health professionals are not utilising other available sources.

When was the last time you went to your doctor with a chronic headache or stomach ache and you got referred to a dietician or a psychologist? Although such health professionals are available – yes, in public facilities – their role is almost always out of the equation.

Unfortunately, most people would only consider visiting a dietician for the sake of appearance. And the subject of visiting a psychologist or a psychiatrist can hardly be discussed.

We all know that scientific research has made our lives much better than it was centuries ago. For that, we came to know that food and environmental factors “do” have direct effects on our health. By now we all know that lots of fat and sugar leads to cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes. We also know that salt might make us hypertensive. But what are we doing about it? Early intervention through awareness programmes, and screenings are key, and Emiratis should take such proactive steps.

Holding a bachelor in nutrition, I could list you hundreds of do’s and don’ts to improve your health. You, could also come up with your own list by simply Googling it (make sure it’s a credible source) However, you are the only one who could convince yourself to do something about it.

So it all goes back to your lifestyle. Do not wait until it’s too late to change. Be the change you want to see in everyone else. Take proactive steps, one step at a time.

Mariam Obaid AlDhaheri is a 23-year-old Zayed University graduate employed in the government sector.

[ weekend@thenational.ae ]