DOHA, Qatar - 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.

A mere finger of sand poking into the Persian Gulf from the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar has the second- highest per capita gross domestic product in the world and the third-largest proven reserves of natural gas.

But it also has one of the world¡¯s highest rates of obesity and diabetes , according to health experts.

Native Qataris, who number only about 250,000 in a nation of 1.6 million, are suffering serious health problems that relate directly to a privileged lifestyle .

¡°We¡¯re talking serious obesity,¡± said Dr. Justin Grantham, a specialist at Qatar¡¯s orthopedic hospital involved in a healthy-living pilot program.

The Qatari newspaper Al Watan recently quoted health experts predicting that within five years, 73 percent of Qatari women and 69 percent of the men would qualify as obese.

The issue seems to run into a wall of tradition . ¡°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.

¡°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.¡±

And Mr. Naimi happens to be the project director for the Healthy Lifestyle, a fledgling effort to try to shift from treatment to prevention. He acknowledges that changing attitudes will take time. ¡°We are trying to change people¡¯s habits, just to get them to walk,¡± he said, admitting that he himself never finds the time to exercise.

Walking is not popular in Qatar¡¯s heat. And Doha, like many cities in the region, is not built for pedestrians.

All Qatari social occasions are defined by eating. Traditional meals usually include rice, clarified butter and lamb. Because people often share large community platters, there is almost no way to keep track of portion size, people here said.

¡°We can¡¯t get together and not eat,¡± said a 22-year-old Qatari woman who is a member of the Thani royal family.

She said her immediate family was typical. Of seven children, five had weight problems.

The typical Qatari student skipped breakfast, then ate a snack and lunch at school, she said. When students return home they are given another lunch, generally a heavy meal of rice and lamb. Later, they snack on cake and tea. At night they eat dinner, often delivered fast food .

¡°For the majority, it is really quite normal to be obese,¡± said Nelda Nader, a dietician.


By MICHAEL SLACKMAN