Dubai: New contest to help residents adopt healthy habits, win rewards

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will organise a competition for the residents to help improve their health and well-being.

“The initiative aims to engage the public at a community level to adopt simple but effective lifestyle habits that will directly improve their health and wellbeing. Using the power of community and guiding them with screening, healthy habits and challenges we hope to empower community members to take charge of their lifestyle and improve their health,” said Dr Ramadan Al Blooshi, advisor to the director-general and acting director of the Public Health Department at the DHA.

While speaking on the sidelines of the Arab Health exhibition, Dr Hend Al Awadhi, head of health promotion and education at the DHA, told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview that the “Health and Happiness” competition is aimed at empowering the community to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Residents aged 18 and above can participate in it in either an individual or a single-family category. During the competition, candidates can take tests at any healthcare facility across Dubai.

Around 10 individual and 10 family winners will be awarded a ‘tempting’ reward, said Dr Al Awadhi.

Registration for the competition will begin in the middle of February, and residents will be able to join by registering through DHA’s website till the holy month of Ramadan. The competition will run till the end of the year.

“We are mainly focusing on three categories – level of activity, measuring BMI and measuring early screening detection. We will have follow-ups after every three months to see how candidates are doing and whether they have any questions about health and competition,” said Dr Al Awadhi.

As part of the competition, the candidates will undergo screening, BMI measurement, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol checkups and mental health screening.

“We will also check how active people are in terms of carrying out their exercise. At the end of the year, we will evaluate all the candidates and score them based on these criteria and announce the winner at the next edition of Arab Health,” she added.

The Dubai Health Authority plans to make it an annual feature for the emirate’s residents to encourage a healthy lifestyle.

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