My city lost a million pounds and so can yours

Like Oklahoma City, Abu Dhabi can make strides in controlling obesity, writes Mick Cornett

One of the biggest challenges of reducing obesity – on both the individual and collective levels – is that it becomes normalised or even accepted, says Mick Cornett. Lee Hoagland / The National

Oklahoma City, of which I am the mayor, has a lot in common with Abu Dhabi. Both cities saw rapid development in the 20th century. Both experienced quick expansion as a result of commodity-based economies with a focus on fossil fuels and other natural resources. And both have faced, and continue to face, a challenge with obesity.

As someone who has dedicated a significant amount of my time in public office to combating the prevalence and acceptance of obesity, headlines from this part of the world are troubling. Perhaps most concerning is the increasing number of obese children and teenagers. This is also an issue in Oklahoma City, which was a deep concern of ours as we started our weight loss journey. We believe we are making strides in that area – and so can you.

At Daman’s Creating Health Communities conference in Abu Dhabi tomorrow, I will be talking about Oklahoma City’s journey to collectively losing a million pounds (450,000kg), which began at the end of 2007.

On New Year’s Eve, I challenged Oklahoma City to go on a diet and that, together, we were going to lose a million pounds. I will also share my own personal journey with weight loss.

One of the biggest challenges with reducing obesity – on both the individual and collective levels – is that it becomes normalised or even accepted. A social network analysis study of obesity within communities found that a person’s chances of becoming obese increased by 57 per cent if they had a friend who became obese within a given time frame. This is why we refer to obesity as an epidemic.

As such, the first step is simply to have a conversation and open dialogue about the problem.

It’s encouraging to see that such discussions are appearing in the UAE’s public discourse, and that companies such as Daman are actively engaged in raising awareness about the extent and effects of obesity. This is the first step to initiating a much needed behavioural change across the city and country.

Our next stage was to address the factors contributing to obesity. While there is disagreement among different schools of thought over the precise biological process behind weight loss, the general consensus is that regular exercise and a good diet militate against obesity.

In Oklahoma City, we also came to the realisation that the city itself was contributing to our obesity problem. Our infrastructure and urban planning were such that people were sometimes unable to walk from one place to another, even if they were willing to.

Firstly, there was simply a lack of pavements in many areas of the city. Regulations requiring developers to build pavements had only recently been introduced, which had resulted in over 100,000 homes throughout the city’s neighbourhoods with almost no pedestrian access.

Secondly, Oklahoma City’s city occupies over 1,600 square kilometres. Because land is cheap and generally well-served by accessible highways, developers have expanded outward. These factors had affected a sedentary culture – people were simply not in the habit of being active.

Abu Dhabi has its own set of challenges. The soaring summer temperatures and humidity don’t help. Nonetheless, there are ways of adapting to and dealing with the climate. Readily available access to air-conditioned venues, for example, would go a long way to reducing the strain that summer can have on one’s health in the UAE.

In Oklahoma, our response was to invest in infrastructure designed to nudge people towards a healthier and more active lifestyle.

We redesigned our city centre into a pedestrian-friendly area that prioritises people above cars. We’re building more than 160 kilometres of bicycle trails. We’re adding pavements to connect neighbourhoods to parks, libraries and retail centres. We’re building a 70-acre park in downtown Oklahoma City.

The redevelopment plan also introduced a world-class venue for watersports such as kayaking, rowing and whitewater rafting.

For the first time in generations, exercise in open public spaces became a free and desirable option. Of course, these changes were neither cheap nor quick, and we explored a range of funding and investment opportunities. The investments have paid off, however. Not only have residents overseen a lasting and sustainable lifestyle change, but individuals and businesses from elsewhere in the United States increasingly found Oklahoma City an attractive location.

We still have a long way to go, but we believe our investments will result in a generational change.

Our two cities have a lot in common. Let’s add significant and sustained weight loss and lifestyle change to our similarities. It can’t happen tomorrow, but it must start today.

Mick Cornett is serving his fourth term as mayor of Oklahoma City, which gained recognition across the US and abroad for achieving a collective weight loss of one million pounds (450,000kg). He will be speaking at Daman’s Creating Healthy Communities conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, October 31