Leaving the UK wasn’t easy – it never is when you spend your whole life building a foundation in one country. Family, friends, work and education were great, but I was in my comfort zone and needed a challenge. Having visited Dubai since the 90s, I knew how incredibly different it had become compared to back then. I felt the potential for health and fitness services here was incredible and despite most buildings having their own gyms, there was no real attention or personnel around to assist people. Hospitals were looking after a lot of people with obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis, to name just a few health issues.
I was that overweight child who was picked last on the school football team, so I understand children’s psychology, especially after studying and talking to them at schools and universities. It’s one thing studying it, but I learnt a lot more living it and seeing it through other children.
My first ambition was to create a facility in which we could look after people through three platforms – personal training, nutrition and sports therapy – and through my gym, P3 in Dubai Marina, I was successful in doing that.
But I wanted to help more, especially with schools, education and children. Nutrition needs to be highlighted in the education system and with that we would see an incredible increase in concentration levels, which would go a long way to producing better results in the UAE. The youth in the country are encouraged to go for the easy option, but the easy option is full of salt, sodium, additives and preservatives. I’ve seen what goes into packed school lunches and they are full of the bad stuff.
I want to give my time to help educate, not just the children, but the teachers and parents. The kids need support and once the problem has been identified, it is easy to fix. We all know what we should be eating, but it’s about making it interesting, creating variety. Kids get bored of food very quickly, so by creating a varied menu each day, with foods full of colours, we can stimulate and appeal to the younger generation.
We can create a trend for kids. We’re looking for longevity, rather than fad diets that the latest celebrity has endorsed. If we can start in schools, then it reinforces the importance of healthy living.
Having access to almost anything, such as food delivered to your door 24 hours a day, naturally results in late-night eating, bingeing and a sedentary lifestyle. The problem lies deeper than that, when parents give their children money to sort out their own lunch or dinner. This is when the large brands stand out, because they are everywhere, giving children easy access to the burger of their choice.
Childhood is a time where people are learning habits about eating and physical activity, so intervening and taking the time to educate them will change their lives. Obesity, once established in adults, is very hard and expensive to treat and can leave psychological scars. Prevention plays an even bigger role and we are learning and developing ways to address the matter.
It is upsetting to see children who are obese and unable to move, knowing that if their lifestyles do not change they won’t live to see their birthdays in 10 years. One of the reasons I came to the UAE was to give back to my roots, especially understanding the generous culture in how our families eat and serve food.
Listening and understanding the problem is key, especially when it comes to children and parents. I would love to see this beautiful country prosper and develop this generation of students to increase concentration, productivity and efficiency levels and if we can project our message of longevity and lifestyle, then we just might save a few lives and hospital bills.
Follow Omar Al Duri on Twitter and Instagram @omaralduri
