DHA felicitates winners of weight loss challenge.

• Challenge part of the ‘Enjas Akhtar,’ initiative which means ‘do more.’ The campaign aims to educate people about healthy eating and exercise.

• 2400 people given diet advice and underwent free blood sugar, pressure and body analysis testing as part of program.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, May 5, 2014: His Excellency Engineer Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority distributed today certificates to winners, organizers and staff members of the ‘Enjas Akhtar’ campaign.

The felicitation ceremony took place at the Rashid Medical Library in presence of senior DHA officials including Dr Ahmad Al Kalban, CEO of Primary Healthcare at the DHA.

The campaign which means ‘do more’ is a Dubai Health Authority initiative that aims to improve diet and fitness levels amongst the population in Dubai.

As part of the campaign, staff members from the DHA’ s clinical nutrition department visited three jogging tracks in Dubai and met with people to educate them about nutrition and correct ways of weight loss.

The dieticians visited the walking tracks at Jumeirah Beach, Al Khawaneej and Al Mamzhar and met with over 2400 people.

The DHA’ s medical experts conducted free screening including blood pressure, blood sugar and body composition analysis.  They also educated all participants about healthy eating.

After one month, the team followed up the progress of all the participants and after three months, the team evaluated the winners based on  healthy weight loss parameters. The team checked the muscle mass, body mass index, weight and other factors before deciding the winners.

Al Maidoor said: “Exercise is essential but so is eating healthy.  This campaign was designed to reach out to those people who are already exercising so that we can educate them about the ways to maximize their results by incorporating a healthy diet. The aim is to inculcate a holistic approach to health and well-being and given the obesity levels in the UAE and globally, public awareness campaigns are essential. Education about dietary basics provides people knowledge to make positive decisions with regard to their diet.”

Wafa Ayesh, director of clinical nutrition at the DHA, said: “Our motto through this campaign is to educate people about the right food habits. From shopping trolleys to dinner tables, people make everyday food choices and our aim is to make those choices healthier. While exercising is important, good nutrition is equally important, it goes hand-in-hand and educating people makes a big impact on overall health of the population.”

The three month program was supported by Sirma Water, Unilever, SEB Group and Life Pharmacy.