OFWs in UAE warned of ‘unhealthy eating habits’

AFP FILE PHOTO

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) must be cautious about eating take-out food and processed food products to avert  fatal diseases, according to doctors from the Dubai branch of the Philippine health institution The Medical City.

The top common ailments of OFWs in UAE include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hyperuricaemia (high uric acid), and respiratory illnesses.

Many Filipino expats were also diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis and peptic ulcer, according to Emirati news site Gulf News.

One factor contributing to respiratory ailments is the working environment. Working for prolonged hours in a stale air-conditioned environment can be attributed to emerging respiratory diseases among OFWs in UAE, according to The Medical City surgeon Dr. Rene Borromeo.

Dr. Marissa Joson, a resident cardiologist at The Medical City, said that majority of OFWs in the UAE consume fast food or food taken out from restaurants, and this lifestyle of UAE-based “kababayans” is gradually affecting their health.

“Finger chips served with fried meat are commonly found in fast food meals. Potato is best consumed baked, not fried. The artery-hardening fries trigger hypertension that is just one step away from a chronic high blood pressure problem,” Joson elucidated in an interview with Gulf News.

She  added, “Food containing high protein drives up the body’s uric acid unless the protein is used up in vigorous physical activities.”

OFWs regularly consume foods abundant in salt and fat, a habit that usually results in people experiencing those types of dreaded diseases. Gianna Francesca Catolico/rga