Its official. Omanis are even fatter than Americans

For those of you who think I was being a bit harsh earlier, here’s some facts. Plus, I feel I should correct a popular myth that it’s the Americans who are the real global fatties. This should be a wake-up call Oman: in 2000 you were even more obese than the Americans.
And lets face it – you aren’t getting any thinner since then are you?

In 2000, a study examined the proportion of overweight and obese adults in Omani citizens: In men it was 48.8%, women 51.1%. In 1991 it was 39.3% and 54.6%.
The average percentage of officially obese adults (BMI>30) in Oman in 2000 was 20.2%, even more than the US, which in 1999 was 18.9%.
Its official folks. On average you’re got more obese people than Americans. And a larger proportion of Omani women are overweight or obese than American women.
Wow. That’s some performance. Well done Pizza Hut, Hardies, McDonalds, KFC, curry dripping in Ghee, shwarma, ice cream, etc etc etc.

This is a problem. Its not even just the asthetics and the diabetes, but add increased risk of heart problems, and kidney failure. And if you’re really fat, they can’t transplant a kidney at all. Plus, you have a set of genes that make you more likely to get diabetes in the first place.

For those interested with the diabetes link, its not just about being generally fat (‘big boned’), but especially bad is being fat around the gut, the so-called waist circumference or waist-hip ratio. I think these statistics speak for themselves.
The medics report. Body fat distribution and the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Omani population
Here’s a link to a nice paper published in the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, Volume 5, Issue 1, 1999, Page 14-20, by D.H. Al-Asfoor, J.A. Al-Lawati and A.J. Mohammed showing how likely you are to have diabetes if your Omani by Body mass Index and waist circumference.

References
Definitions:
Body Mass Index Overweight = BMI >25, Obese BMI>30
Sources:
USA data
US 1999:
Overweight + Obese 59.4% for men, 50.7% for women and 54.9% overallObesity: overall average 18.9%

Oman data
Oman 2000:
In the year 2000, the age adjusted prevalence of obesity reached 16.7% in men, compared to 10.5% in 1991. In women, the prevalence was 23.8% in 2000, compared to 25.1% in 1991. Similarly, the prevalence of overweight increased among men, from 28.8-32.1% and decreased among women, from 29.5-27.3%.