Journalism Workshops

dohanews:

One woman’s fight against diabetes by Salima Al Ismaili, Ismaeel Naar and Benazir Al-Munir Karim.

Third-year journalism students at Northwestern University in Qatar have just launched a new website to raise awareness of the country’s obesity and diabetes crises through written reports, videos, photo stories and datagraphics.

Maisoun Maraka, the widowed mother of three and full time employee at Hamad Medical Corporation who is featured in the video above, is just one example of those that struggle with diabetes in the country.

According to figures published on Sweet Epidemic, 20 percent of Qataris are diabetic, and a staggering 75 percent are overweight. No figures, however, are offered for the country’s predominant expat population.

Reasons cited for the exceptionally high rates include “cultural notions of wealth and prosperity.” And the epidemic is also impacting pregnant women.

To read more about the problem and what’s been done, head over to qatarsweetepidemic.org.

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Disclosure: I worked on a similar project with NU-Q students last year focused on Qatar’s unsafe roads.

Good to see what the journalism students are doing at Northwestern University in Qatar.

(Source: vimeo.com)