Survey reveals health habits

A HEALTH survey in Bahrain has found that only half of those questioned (52 per cent) eat the recommended three meals a day, while one in five Bahrainis never do exercise. It also found that 39pc of all nationalities do not take medication prescribed by a doctor, while 50pc did not know how to measure their body mass index. Almost half of those questioned (42pc) said they never get eight hours sleep, except on weekends, while more than two thirds (66pc) drank less than one 1.5 litres of water a day - despite the hot climate. The results were collated in a Health and Fitness Trends study by US-based Zarca Interactive, which was carried out online and covered 300 Bahraini, Asian, Arab and Western residents aged more than 25. Sixty-three per cent of respondents were Bahraini, while three quarters of them were men. Results of the study were revealed yesterday during a Press conference at the Al Jawhara Centre for Molecular Medicine, in Salmaniya. "Bahrain became the first country in the GCC last year to launch an electronic health survey by partnering with us," said Zarca Interactive executive director and Middle East and Africa head Javed Farooqui. "Our partnership empowers the Health Ministry in Bahrain to reach the masses to collect their feedback using new technology like social media and microblogging sites Twitter and Facebook." Positive results included 71pc of respondents saying they ate breakfast every day, while none said they ate fried foods daily and less than half (45pc) consumed chocolate, sweets and sugar every day to three times a week. Two thirds (66pc)of Bahrainis said that they eat low fat dairy products. Meanwhile, 33pc said they watched TV when they felt stressed, while 11pc smoked and 16pc played sport. Hope "There is some ray of hope with the result of this survey, which will no doubt help us in evaluating and determining the impact of health promotion plans and programmes," said director of the Health Promotion Directorate Dr Amal Al Jowder. "They will also help in further developing the future policies for health promotion in Bahrain, which we want to bring to wider communities to guarantee quality of life." The Health Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Zarca Interactive last year to evaluate behaviour and lifestyle, as well as train ministry staff on electronic research. Plans are underway to develop a GCC-wide health and fitness awareness index on prevailing concerns across the region. This latest survey also looked at people's behaviour while driving in Bahrain and found that 80pc of respondents said they always used safety belts, while 16pc never used safety belts or only did sometimes. "One out of 10 said they always or often send SMS or chat while driving," reads the survey report. "More than half of participants (54pc) said they use their mobiles without headset sometimes while driving, while 16pc said they always use their mobiles without a headset while driving." Meanwhile, one third of Bahrainis (34pc) said they visited a family doctor or a general doctor for routine medical check-ups annually, while all Western residents asked did so annually. Most (89pc) never practised yoga or meditation; 67pc said walking was their preferred exercise; 15pc said they smoked less than a packet of cigarettes a day and 65pc were non-smokers; 52pc of Bahrainis consumed fish; and seven out of 10 (70pc) say they often eat skinless chicken. "Adoption of healthy lifestyles by people remains the greatest challenge faced by the Health Ministry, not only in the kingdom of Bahrain, but throughout the health systems in the world," said Dr Al Jowder.