Fat Arabs: it's official

When I last visited America I was amazed at how slim everyone seemed to be.  At the time I put it down to being in San Fransico and being surrounded by a city of people who were simply healthy.  But then I got to Florida and it was the same.

I couldn't imagine, from everything I'd read and heard about America, the people I saw in the street were slimmer on average than the people I saw in the street in the Gulf.  Basically I didn't believe what I was seeing.

Turns out I was right; many Americans are slimmer, on average, than Gulfies. 

Each year the Economist publishes figures which include the percentage spending of GDP on health care, average figures for literacy and clean water supplies, as well as a list of the levels of obesity.

Scarily, of the top 9 places in this particular award, 4 members of the GCC make an appearance.  Only Oman and the UAE are not mentioned.  Thanks to LONDONGIRL for highlighting this idea. 

The cartoon below highlights changes in dress sizes before and after marriage:

Places were given as follows:


10th Place:  Cyprus

Joint 8th:  Bahrain
About 1 million people live in Bahrain, of which it is said 23.3% of men are obese and 34.1% of women. Overall it is thought 28.7% of the adult population is obese.

Joint 8th:  Kuwait
With a population of around 4 million, it is said 28.7% of Kuwaitis are obese. 29.9% of all women have a BMI of 30 or more, compared with 27.5% of men.

7th Place: Albania

6th Place: Mexico

5th Place: Panama

4th Place: USA

3rd Place:  Saudi Arabia
Population is estimated to be around 25 million people. Of these, 35.2% of adults are obese; 26.4% men and 44% women.

2nd Place:  Lebanon

1st Place:  Qatar
Qatar's estimated 1.5 million citizens very large indeed; 39.95% of adults are obese. 34.6% of men have a BMI of over 30 and nearly half of all women; 45.3% are obese.