QUICK-FIX BODY

ARAB WOMEN GO IN PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT BODY, BUT IT COMES AT A HEFTY PRICE

An over-the-counter weight-loss product that is promoted and readily available over the Internet as well as in drugstores has been found to be fraudulent and illegal by the American Food and Drug Administration's Internet health and fraud team.

The products, under the label HCG, were found to bf ineffective in achieving weight loss, although not dangerous.

This is not always the case, and is especially a problem in countries where drugs are not carefully regulated, as in the Middle East.

There, obesity is on the rise and quick solutions are often sought for weight loss.

Many Arabs in the Gulf, for example, are now overweight. The reason? Oil wealth has fueled a sedentary lifestyle and a rise in consumption of unhealthy foods.

In Saudi Arabia, even the armed forces are sagging, leading Deputy Defense Minister Khalid Bin Sultan to complain that almost 70 percent of the soldiers are overweight.

As a result, people are seeking out dangerous and unhealthy solutions in the form of weight-loss drugs.

With ideas about beauty veering to more Western standards, women can be particularly affected by the promised panaceas.

Diet pills have become all the rage throughout the Middle East, but physicians are warning against overuse, lack of supervision and harmful side effects.

In Egyptian pharmacies, weight-toss pills are sold more than medication for chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, the London-based news site Elaph has reported.

Ahmad Diab, a pharmacist in Cairo, told Elaph that the increased consumption of slimming pills reflected a "thin craze" among Egyptian women of all ages, who want to be slender like famous movie stars and models.

The side effects range from swelling in the stomach, anemia and low calcium levels to inflammation. diarrhea and colon problems. Weight-loss drugs with hormones can also cause heart palpitations and nervous disorders.

However, warnings against the harmful side effects have not stopped the thriving industry of fat clinics and "slimming medications" for women, which promise miraculous transformation into a slender beauty queen.

Yasmine Rashidi, a Cairo-based writer and coltura] critic, says women choose drugs over exercise or diets because they provide a quick fix.

''As a culture, beauty has historically been important to us - look at Cleopatra, for example - hut our ideals for beauty have now become much more ajigned with those of the West, so skinny is the current standard," she explained.

She added that since health-foods are not readily available and exercise is not part of the culture, drugs that promise miracles are very appealing.

Across the region

Problems related to weight-loss drugs exist across the region.

In Iraq, health experts say diet pills have led to cancer, paralysis and even death.

The weight-loss drug fad is also fueling conspiracy theories that these drugs are imported to Iraq by imperial powers wishing to harm the Iraqi people by spreading disease.

In most of these countries there is little, if any, supervision of the source, safety and effectiveness of these pills, and little knowledge about their side effects.

In Lebanon, new weightloss products are appearing on the market all the time. Some of them are registered with the Ministry of Health and have undergone laboratory tests, while others are unregistered, and are labeled as nutrients or vitamins.

The main market in Lebanon is among women and young girls who are unaware about the associated health concerns and are easily swayed by advertisements.

In Jordan, women are taking weight-loss drugs despite health warnings that they can cause fertility problems, sleeping disorders, swelling, pain, vomiting and depression.

Unregulated, unsafe

Sharoud Al-Jundi Matthis. program manager with the Qatar Diabetes Association confirmed that the weight-loss drug craze in the region was mostly triggered by an increase in obesity levels.

"The Middle East is seeing an incredible increase in obesity due to urbanization and changing of lifestyle," Matthis told The Media Line.

In many Middle Eastern countries there is a vast market of unregulated and sometimes dangerous pharmaceuticals.

Rashidi, the Cairo-based writer, agreed that this was also a problem in Egypt.

"There are all sorts of pills you can get here that you could never get in the U.S., and people casually buy them over the counter and use them in their own way, not following instructions, not checking first if they are fit to take them," she said.

"A few yeare ago, at the time when ephedrine-based Xenadrine had been banned from the market in the U.S., its usage was widespread here." she added. Also problematic: the notion in the region that "herbal" means safe.

There needs to be more information available about side effects and safety, she concluded.

[Author Affiliation]

By RACHELLE KLIGER

THE MEDIA LINE