Qatar students launch website to help tackle obesity

A group of journalism students has moved to tackle alarming obesity rates and their continued rise in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through a website aimed at raising awareness and preventing the epidemic’s further spread. The site, http://www.qatarsweetepidemic.org , to helpunravel the crisis of diabetes and obesity in Qatar, is run by students in the Northwestern University in Qatar journalism programme. According to Qatar’s 2011-2016 National Health Strategy, 71 percent of Qatar’s resident population, which includes both Qataris and expatriates, are overweight and 32 percent are obese or morbidly obese. With a mix of video documentary, investigative articles, audio podcasts and visual stories, the students’ site confronts visitors with the startling figures on obesity and diabetes in Qatar and invites them to examine the societal factors that may be contributing to the rise of these two deadly medical conditions across the Gulf.