Obesity should be managed as a lifelong condition in the way diabetes and hypertension are controlled if the growth of expanding waistlines in the Arab world is to be reversed, doctors said.

According to the World Health Organisation, the average prevalence of obesity in Arab countries increased from 6.5 per cent in 1975 to 20 per cent in 2016.

On World Obesity Day, March 4, obesity prevalence varies significantly across the 22 Arab countries with associated health problems such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer placing a huge financial burden on healthcare facilities.