20% of children in Tunisia children suffer from obesity

Twenty per cent of 6-12-year-old children in Tunisia suffer from obesity, a nutritionist announced yesterday.

Anissa Qasim told the media that the Tunisian children suffered from obesity “because they do not exercise periodically,” noting that “only 12 per cent of Tunisian children engage in periodic physical activities.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said recently that Tunisian children exercise “only 60 minutes per week on average,” as opposed to the organisation’s recommendations to children of exercising everyday for 60 minutes.

Qasim called for “instilling a culture of practicing sports and exercising at a young age,” noting that international studies have shown that the children would “watch TV instead of exercising.”

Studies by the WHO have also proven that an “idle culture prevails among Tunisian citizens, young and old.”

“Eighty-three percent of Tunisians do not exercise,” the UN organisation explained, adding that it had led to a “50 percent increase in obesity across Tunisia.”

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