A programme that aims to raise awareness and combat obesity and encourage participants to engage in a healthy lifestyle is underway for the eighth time, with more than 40 Bahrainis looking to change their lives around for the better.
The programme, known as ‘The Biggest Winner’ is being held by the Northern Governorate under the directives of Northern Governor Ali Al Asfoor as part of efforts to be recognised as a ‘Healthy Governorate’ by the World Health Organisation.
It is being supervised by Healthy City Co-ordinator Office member Mohammed Al Asfoor and held in co-ordination with the Health Mates Society.
“The main goal of the programme is to help the participants combat obesity by challenging and regulating their sugar intake and promoting an overall healthy lifestyle,” he said. “We want to help them change their lifestyle by making sure they control what they eat and to make sure they understand the significance of exercising every day.
“This will not only change their lives for the better but also, hopefully, encourage those around them, including their loved ones, to also adopt a healthier way of living.”
The eighth edition of the programme was announced on Bahrain Sports Day on February 22. The competition itself kicked off in April and is expected to go on for around three months in total, ending in July.
Forty-four people are participating in this edition of the programme, meaning that including the previous years, an estimated 200 people in total have participated in the challenge to date.
A clinical nutritionist will supervise the participants, come up with a special nutritional programme for them, and follow up with them throughout the duration of the programme.
“More than 200 Bahrainis have in one way or another have all managed to lose weight through exercise, planning their meals and healthy eating habit,” said Mr Al Asfoor.
“On top of that, to our knowledge, most of them have managed to retain their healthy weights, which is very encouraging for us.”
Mr Al Asfoor stated the name ‘The Biggest Winner’ was chosen in order to encourage participants in a positive manner, rather than mock them for their efforts.
“We decided to call it that instead of “The Biggest Loser” because here, you lose weight, but you win your health,” he said. “We also changed the name based on circumstances, for example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, we still ran the challenge, but we called it ‘The Biggest Winner from Your Home’.
“It is meant to encourage them and make it known we appreciate their efforts instead calling them ‘losers’ for improving their lives. There are currently four categories participants can sign up for. There is the men’s over 18, women’s over 18, boys aged 12 to 17, and girls aged 12 to 17.
It originally started out as a weight loss programme, but has recently started branching out to include other health aspects as well. “This year, we have quite a few smokers participating as well,” said Mr Al Asfoor. “As part of the programme, they have pledged to not only lose weight but also completely stop smoking by the end of it, which is expected to be around the end of the year.”
The participants’ weights and other measurements have been taken at the beginning of the programme and will be compared to data recorded towards the end.
The person who loses the most waist circumference will be declared the winner of the adult categories, and the child who loses the most weight will win the junior categories.
The GDN reported in September last year that three governorates in the country are on track to be certified as ‘Healthy Governorates,’ with the Capital, Northern and Southern Governorates vying for the honour.
In 2018, Umm Al Hassam was the first city to be designated as a Healthy City, followed in 2021 by Manama, which became the first capital in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region to earn the Healthy City distinction.
In 2022, Busaiteen in the Muharraq governorate, and A’ali in the Northern governorate, were also given the honour, bringing the total number of healthy cities in the country to four.
A GDN report from March 2022 showed that the country continued to battle high obesity rates among citizens with almost a third of Bahrainis aged 18 and above being overweight.
In August 2022, Bahrain was selected among a group of 25 countries and first GCC country to implement a World Health Organisation (WHO) plan to accelerate progress towards reducing obesity in the country.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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