UAE, September 8, 2015 – The UAE Ministry of Health represented by the Health Education and Promotion Department of the Health Clinics and Centers, organized the second workshop under the ‘National Program to Combat Obesity’ for private school nurses in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates. The session, which was attended by 7 health officers and 50 nurses, was held within the framework of the UAE National Agenda 2021 announced by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The UAE Council of Ministers aims reduce the rate of obesity among children within the age group of 5-17 years by 12 per cent.

The program promoted healthy diet and physical activity as two vital ways to reduce the emergence of obesity in order to improve the level of children health and achieve a healthy and better life for future generations. In this context, Dr. Fadila Mohammed Sharif, Director of Health Education and Promotion Department, said: “The UAE Ministry of Health has initiated the ‘National Program to Combat Obesity’ at the beginning of the Academic Year 2015-2016 in public and private schools. Through this workshop, we seek to introduce the nursing staff to the school program, assign roles to them, and train them on how to fill the required forms.”