By IANS,
Abu Dhabi : Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are promoting a football tournament to raise awareness on the importance of physical activity or sports in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Over 300 participants from 16 teams are taking part in the Play Sports Live Healthily Ramadan Football Tournament, to be held next week under the aegis of the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre. This year’s tournament will be the third edition of the annual event.
“The increased support in the tournament reaffirms our faith that the community is willing to help and give its time in support of activities encouraging people to be active and stay healthy,” Maha Taysir Barakat, the centre’s medical and research director, said.
Recent figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) says that around 285 million people are living with diabetes around the world.
The Emirates feature in the top eight countries in terms of diabetes prevalence. “These statistics indicate that the region has high risk factors for diabetes, mostly related to rising obesity rates and physical inactivity,” Barakat said.
However, eighty percent of diabetes cases are preventable simply by introducing a healthier lifestyle including increased physical activity and a healthy diet.