By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter


Walking is the most appropriate form of physical activity especially for the middle aged and the elderly, a physician from the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) said yesterday. He added that 10,000 steps, was the ideal number, one needed  to walk a day.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Specialist Certification of Obesity Professional Education (SCOPE) conference organised by the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Dr Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, chairman of Medicine, HMC said  exercises are essential for any lifestyle management.
Dr Abou-Samra said: “Walking is the most suitable form of exercise for people in the middle age category or people who have got some chronic diseases. Walking does not stress people much. They can walk in a relaxed fashion and walk about 10,000 steps a day.”
The physician maintained that any exercise programme has to take into account the physical condition of the person. “For each person, there are special goals and special programmes. Exercises such as aerobics can be suitable for the young. They can follow any level of exercise as they are young and physically fit,” said Dr Abou-Samra.
The HMC official pointed out that of late, there have been many campaigns in the country to encourage people to engage in physical activities. However, he felt that they are all at the infancy level.
“There have been great efforts in the reduction of obesity cases in the country and a lot of activities have been going on. But still we do not have any concrete data to show that there has been significant progress in this regard as most of the reduction in weight in the country is taking place through bariatric surgery.
“However, more number of people can be seen engaged in several activities for lifestyle modifications. Many campaigns such as mall walking, step into health and other physical activities are gaining momentum and more and more people can be seen participating in these activities. This proves that the campaigns have had an impact, as participation from people is going up. Even though, we do not have any concrete evidence about their benefits, we are sure that they are helping the people,” he added.
The two-day SCOPE conference is discussing the impact of obesity on people and the need to modify life style among people to overcome this problem. An internationally acclaimed high-quality education programme, SCOPE is  aimed at improving the treatment of the obese and overweight patients.

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