Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – A nutrition expert has said she has seen many young people who do not know weight gain is a major factor that causes lifestyle diseases such as diabetes.

Dr. Noor Adel Hakim, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, with her students has launched a campaign called "Stay Healthy, Be Diabetes Free", with the aim of creating awareness in the community, especially among students, about diabetes, its causes and ways to prevent it.

“I have seen many students especially from non-medical backgrounds who are weak in health awareness. For example, a lot of them do know that weight gain can be a major factor in many diseases, such as diabetes,” Hakim told the students of Effat University during a lecture organized as part of her campaign.

“We visit different places and give lectures. Before coming to Effat University today, we organized a program at Dar Al-Hekma University. We make the program experimental wherein we offer students their BMI and blood pressure measurements to find out how high is their risk of getting diabetes. This way we enlighten them on the risk factors and teach them what to eat and what to avoid,” added Dr. Hakim.

She emphasized the importance of creating awareness in society about nutrition.

“What we are doing is totally voluntary work and our only motive is to get our message heard. Some of the students also have assignments to launch educational awareness programs," Hakim told Saudi Gazette.