Sports day is essential to make a healthy change in people’s lifestyles
A large number of people in Qatar had been “missing a big part of their lives” due to increased mobility and the advent of modern gadgets, National Sport Day (NSD) Committee chairman Abdulrahman Mosallam al-Dosari said yesterday.
Qatar is among the countries with “very high” obesity cases along with Western and other GCC countries such as the US, the official pointed out, while explaining that 17% of adults in the country are battling diabetes.
He said that such illnesses had been causing a lot of damage to society on a daily basis, reducing the percentage of work efficiency.
“Many people do not take the time to exercise and this is the reason why we have Sport Day to remind them of its importance,” al-Dosari noted. “It is a special day to be taken seriously, an opportunity for people to make changes in their lifestyle.”
He also said the country had built enough facilities for physical activities, sports and recreation for its residents. “Some people complain about the lack of facilities and this is not true.”
Al-Dosari lamented that some entities took advantage of the annual celebration to sell lot of unhealthy food items.
This was the reason why the Qatar Tourism Authority and 47 hotels launched an initiative that offer residents healthy packages such as free gym use and gym classes, among others.
The committee also asked entities to focus on not wasting resources. “We want the private sector to develop something more innovative that can have a bigger impact on a larger group of people and not just on their staff,” al-Dosari said.
The committee is also doing a study, in collaboration with Qatar University, to investigate the habits of residents with regards to sport and exercise. They found out that walking is the most popular physical activity for them.
The finding has inspired the committee to work with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the Ministry of Transport and Communications to find ways of building more avenues for walking in the city.
“They are working to develop the ‘Sport for all initiative’ and will be announcing soon ways to make the NSD more effective so it will not just be one day in a year but a long term initiative,” al-Dosari added. [Gulf Times]
(Cover image courtesy: Sanjiban Ghosh)
"..along with Western and other GCC countries such as the US.." I didn't know that the US were a GCC country!
Why do hospitals have to downgrade services for sports day ?
One day per year is enough - in Qatar. It is absolutely unnecessary to have PE with an accredited PE teacher every day. The European and other Western countries are stupid to waste so much time on physicals!
To foster this sporting culture, the ministry of sports should organize inter-company competitions all over Qatar and engage other stakeholders and see if there won't be a remarkable change in the the lukewarm attitude of expatriates and Locals towards sports.
Thanks