Anlene conducts bone health checks at 'Walk for Bones' event

All those who completed the 2km walk also received a free bone scan to test their bone health. In October, the Anlene Bone Health Check revealed that 40% of women scanned in UAE and KSA were at moderate or high risk of developing osteoporosis.

Dr. Humeira Badsha, Consultant Rheumatologist at DBAJ, described the success of the Walk for Bones as a great step forward in building awareness and sharing knowledge about osteoporosis. "The prevalence of the osteoporosis in the Middle East is often a 'back-of-mind' disease that people tend to think of as either rare or not particularly serious. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is common and it can be life changing - even life threatening."

"Today provided a great opportunity for people to understand the facts around osteoporosis and the steps they can take to maintain good bone health."

The walkers warmed up and stretched their legs in a training session with Zena Halaby from FitnessO2 and set off at 4pm, led by Lujan Omran. Both watchers and walkers were treated to DJ and band Gaya Thri.

Fonterra, the company behind Anlene, has spent more than US$40 million in the last decade to better understand osteoporosis and works closely with the International Osteoporosis Foundation to raise awareness. In 2006, Anlene launched an Asia-wide research programme into the growing incidence of osteoporosis in the region by bone-scanning three million people across nine countries.

So far more than 1.8 million of those free bone scans have been conducted and provide invaluable insight into the state of bone health in Asia and the Middle East.

Mr Khaled Hashish, General Manager, GCC Consumer Division, Fonterra Brands, "We knew this event would create a lot of interest, but the turn-out here today has been truly remarkable.

"It is a sign that people are listening and learning and want to share in the message that this disease is preventable."

The UAE Ministry of Health, Dubai Bone and Joint Center (DBAJ) and Emirates Arthritis Foundation joined Anlene to raise awareness of the cause.

Anlene's month-long osteoporosis education campaign focuses on the UAE and KSA. The Anlene Bone Health Check has conducted over 70,000 scans to date in the Middle East region and is continuing with the program in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah at hypermarkets, ladies clubs, health clubs, health festivals and primary health clinics, providing free risk assessment.

Anlene has also partnered with MBC, to run a weekly health segment over eight weeks dedicated to osteoporosis on 'Sabah Al Kheir Ya Arab' that takes an in-depth look into the various aspects of the disease, prevention methods and other related topics.