NYT story about how globalization is changing diets in the Persian Gulf and how Qataris' tendency toward tradition (marrying cousins) combine to render the population unusually unhealthy--as in, too heavy, too much diabetes, and too many genetic issues.
Like other oil-rich nations, Qatar has leaped across decades of development in a short time, leaving behind the physically demanding life of the desert for air-conditioned comfort, servants and fast food.
While embracing modern conveniences, however, Qataris have also struggled to protect their cultural identity from the forces of globalization. For many here, that has included continuing the practice of marrying within families, even when it predictably produces genetic disorders, like blindness and various mental disabilities.
“It’s really hard to break traditions,” said Dr. Hatem El-Shanti, a pediatrician and clinical geneticist who runs a genetics testing center in Doha, the capital. “It’s a tradition carried from one generation to the next.”
Qataris live in a nation no larger than the state of Connecticut where they are a minority among the more than a million foreign workers lured here for jobs. But their problems are not unique.
Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia all share similar struggles with obesity, diabetes and genetic disorders, each suffering the side effects of an oil-financed lifestyle and a desire to hold on to traditions.
Yet, even in this neighborhood, Qatar stands out.
You know the old Godfather bit about, "Leave the gun, take the canoli"?
When globalization comes to you town, my advice is, "Forget your cousin, take the spinach salad."
But tradition is a hard habit to break:
For all of these challenges, and for all of its wealth, Qatar has primarily focused on the treatment of diseases rather than on prevention.
Everyone here points to lifestyle and tradition to explain the nation’s health crises. While it was once taboo to talk about the problems involved with marrying relatives, they are now talked about openly. There have been some discussions about premarital genetic screening, or genetic testing done at birth. But the tradition is so strong, no one has raised the prospect of curbing it.
“You can’t tackle the issue,” said Moza al-Malki, a family therapist and writer. “There are some big families, clans, they don’t marry outside the family. They won’t allow it.”
The issue of obesity seems to run into the same wall of tradition, health experts here said.
“If you don’t eat, it’s considered a shame, and if you leave someone’s home without eating it’s a shame,” said Abdulla al-Naimi, 25, who refers to himself as “chubby” but is noticeably overweight. “Half of my family has diabetes,” Mr. Naimi said. “My mother has diabetes. Three cousins younger than me have diabetes. For me, I eat too much and I don’t exercise.”
He is also married to his first cousin.
Everywhere I have traveled in this world, I find the same attitudes:
- Everyone says their culture is based on food; and
- Everyone says everybody else's culture is more sex-obsessed than their own.
The inter-marrying thing is tough. It pretty much has to change from within--as in, grandmas getting too unhappy about their damaged progeny.
On the food front, though, I'd love to America led a positive redefinition. We need it desperately for ourselves, and we should make money spreading to the world.