By the sweat of someone else's brow

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about a study from the World Health Organization, which analyzed the frequency of physical exercise in 168 countries. The result places Kuwait in the last position of the list, ranking as the laziest country according to this. The surveys showed that 67% of Kuwaitis don´t practice enough sport. According to the WHO, the physical activity should be at least 75 minutes per week if it is intense, or 150 minutes if it is moderate exercise. Here you can see the complete report in case you want to check in detail:https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30357-7/fulltext

One of the reasons of this shortage of sporting habits can be the weather. Everyone knows that heat provokes drowsiness and the high temperatures limit the chances of running or biking outside, for example. However, this shouldn't be an excuse since the number of sport clubs and gyms in the country is increasing. On the other hand, there are several sport competitions, especially from November to April. Other cause, related to the previous one, is the huge car dependency of many people to go everywhere. The most remarkable situation I ever saw is when some drivers stop outside any shop or restaurant, using their horns to call someone to come and attend them, and then asking for what they wish without leave their cars. I think I never ever watched a bigger sign of laziness in my whole life.

A group of aerobic entertaining and motivating the participants before the Run Kuwait For a Cause race

This data regarding the low frequency of physical exercise in Kuwait could be seen as a simple anecdote if it was not for the health hazards related to sedentary lifestyle. This factor plus the increasing tendency of consuming fast food among the Kuwaitis, lead the country to be the first in the ranking of obesity in the World, with a 42% of people with this characteristic. This is something I realize when I go to some mall, the place where locals spend more time. What is especially worrying is the prevalence of child obesity. I hope they can react soon and organize some awareness campaign about this matter because it is getting serious.

 

For my part, at the moment I didn't go running since I came back, mainly because I don´t want to faint. These days I am just doing push ups, abdominal crunches, skipping and other exercises at home in order to keep fit. I am waiting for the weather to start being a bit better, at least in the night, to recover the running habit as last year. I also would like to play badminton again but first I need to find a good place in Salmiya area for this. Let me know if someone would like to join!