“The 1st Pandemic of the 21st Century”
The College of Health Care Technologies at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) organized a seminar titled, “Obesity: The 1st Pandemic of the 21st Century,” at AUIB campus, where Dr. Mohammad Al-Haddad delivered a presentation that was attended by a host of University students, faculty, and staff members.
Dr. Al-Haddad spoke on the global pervasiveness of obesity and the host of diseases associated with it, stressing the importance of prevention, mainly by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Even though 80% of the root causes of obesity are fundamentally genetic, unhealthy food habits are a major reason for the proliferation of the malady which “we fail miserably (in fighting) because we are fighting against the food industry,” remarked Dr. Al-Haddad, giving a historical perspective on the issue, as he explained that in the 1970s obesity was not a pandemic, and that it was recognized as such in 1984, after the food industry played a major role in the development of obesity by producing and marketing highly palatable, energy-dense foods that are often high in calories, sugar, and unhealthy fats.