Health - a passing phase, or a lifestyle statement which is here to stay?

I would be returning to what is after all a more comfortable way of life - where commuting is by car rather than walking, and lunch is no longer a simple sandwich, but rather a feast of traditional heavy dishes, such as rice with chicken or meat, followed by an afternoon siesta.

However, I quickly realized that Jeddah and its people were no longer the same. Health wise they have definitely started changing for the better in the last three years or so. I was amazed! I wanted to understand the reality of the city's new lifestyle. I was curious to know exactly how far things have changed. And since I work with TNS, a marketing research company, I decided to run some focus groups with Saudi female consumers.

I met ladies from the younger generation, ages 18 to 25 years. We discussed health related topics such as nutrition, diet and exercise to find out where and how changes have occurred. My respondents believed that for some decades now many countries especially in the West have been more aware of health issues and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and have been actively implementing and discovering habits and behaviours which help people to stay healthy and live longer, illness free lives.

"I like reading American health magazines. They have many interesting facts and advice on dieting and keeping fit, written by experts."

These young Saudi ladies felt that this health "craze" movement found its way through various countries and has now indeed reached Saudi Arabia, especially Jeddah.

"About five years ago when I used to go to the gym, my friends were impressed. But now it's so common that we exercise and go on diets together."

The ladies felt that the media nowadays is playing a major role in bringing awareness of health issues to audiences of all ages.

" There are so many programs on TV these days that talk about health. My mother enjoys watching them, but I prefer shows like Star Academy, which also emphasizes the importance of health by making the contestants go on a diet and exercise several times a week."

They talked of looking for more healthy alternatives in their diet, paying more attention to what they eat.

"I make sure I have a salad for lunch everyday nowadays, even though I don't really like it. But I do it to stay healthy."

They are aware of the importance of nutrition, balance in one's diet - the concept of

" you are what you eat."

"Food can be healthy or unhealthy, depending on what you eat."

They are aware of the importance of vitamins - and vitamin supplements, though they said they preferred finding natural sources of vitamins, rather than taking vitamin pills which seemed somehow artificial to them. In fact my respondents also believed that certain foods are essential for growth and general well-being because of the vitamins they contain.

"Each vitamin you eat helps you develop both physically and mentally. In fact, when it's examination time I know I must eat certain foods to help me focus - such as anything with za'atar."

"I know that these vitamin pills are good for you, but they can also harm you if you take too many. It's better to eat a lot of fruits which are anyway filled with important vitamins."

There was a perception, however, that the majority of the Saudi population would require some motivation as well as education to help them get started with this new way of living.

"Being healthy is very important to me, but I just feel lazy and don't actually do much about it."

Whilst my sample showed their high level of awareness of the benefits of such activities as jogging, swimming, aerobics and gym routines involving such things as treadmills, my young Saudi women preferred to follow the fun side of exercising, walking with friends or dancing daily.

"I always put on the music channel when I'm at home or with friends - and then we dance until we feel tired."

Health food companies and fitness or exercise centers therefore are sitting on significant opportunities, whilst Saudi society at large also benefits, so we have a win-win situation. My sample were aware of various recent marketing promotions, like Gold's Gym which was reported to be using world celebrities to encourage people to sign up, and now after its grand opening is evidently very popular with both sexes.

"I was so excited when I heard they were opening a huge 24 hour gym. One that would provide us with personal trainers, nutritionists and a healthy fast food restaurant all in the same premises. So I signed up even before the opening."

Local supermarket chains are also playing an important part, allocating a special Healthy / Diet Food aisle for customers, something which would have had no significance for Saudi consumers just a few years back.

"It's so easy nowadays to find diet foods in the supermarkets because they have their own section away from the temptation of less healthy, more fattening foods, which I now always try to avoid as much as possible."

At the end of the day after my research I feel it is apparent that this is no simple health "craze", here today gone tomorrow, but what we are seeing in Saudi is the start of an ever growing trend which more and more people can be expected to embrace. The essentials are already in place and the message will quickly spread.

Actually, it's great to be home again and I can relax - and stay healthy; there's no excuse.