Convenience is a word often associated with the less healthy lifestyle choices of modern life. Fast food is convenient. Home deliveries are convenient. So are processed snacks that sit prominently on supermarkets shelves. But the UAE is turning that logic on its head – by making healthier options similarly convenient as part of a deliberate, multi-pronged public health strategy.
The latest evidence of this can be found in Abu Dhabi’s hospitality sector. Under a mandate that came into force last Thursday, hotels and tourism-licensed restaurants are required to offer at least one healthy item in every menu category – appetisers, mains, sides and desserts – under the “Sehhi” (healthy) nutritional standards developed by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre. Sehhi foods are low in fat, sugar and salt, and higher in nutritional value. Children’s menus face an even higher bar, with at least half of their offerings required to meet these criteria.
The pattern is becoming difficult to miss. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi tightened rules on what children can bring into schools, with foods high in sugar, fat and artificial additives placed in the prohibited list. From next year, supermarkets across the emirate will have to remove junk food from high-visibility areas. There is already a tiered excise tax in place on sugary beverages as part of a UAE-wide drive to encourage reductions in their consumption.
These measures reflect a recognition among policymakers that while individual responsibility remains important to public health, the environment in which people make decisions matters just as much. The objective is not to remove choice, but rather to ensure that healthier habits do not require extraordinary effort.
The same thinking applies to exercise. In a country where summer temperatures can make outdoor activity difficult for months, the UAE been quite inventive. Hence, today there is no shortage of climate-controlled gyms and sporting facilities – or, for that matter, community sports programmes such as the ones that are on offer at Zayed Sports City at this time of the year.
Then there is the annual Dubai Mallathon, launched last year, that turns malls across Dubai into running and walking tracks. This year, more than 160,000 people participated in the three-month programme that culminated in a full marathon inside Dubai Mall, thereby offering residents a way to stay active away from the summer heat. Again, the principle is convenience.
More broadly, this approach embeds public health in urban planning, education, hospitality and everyday community life – rather than confining it to hospital visits and medical care, which can be both stressful and expensive for all those involved. From a macroeconomic perspective, the stakes justify such a whole-of-government effort. The World Obesity Federation, a non-profit group, estimates that obesity could cost the UAE almost 5 per cent of its gross domestic product by 2035.
The overall impact of these measures could take years to become clear. But by systematically reducing the friction around good habits, the UAE is purposely stacking the odds in favour of longer and healthier lives. If convenience has helped create some of modern life’s health problems, it can also help solve them.
