Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of basketball’s all-time greats and an advocate of living a healthy lifestyle, is currently in the UAE to promote the awareness of diabetes.
In his role as ambassador for Imperial College London Diabetes Centre and a supporter of the ‘Take a Step for Diabetes’ initiative, Abdul-Jabbar spoke on the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle and how to best prevent the onset of diabetes.
“I’m in the UAE as a guest because I’m very concerned with what I see going on,” said Abdul- Jabbar.
“The increase in the number of people contracting diabetes over here is really alarming.
“There are so many things that you can do to mitigate that and bring things back around to where they should be at a normal rate.
“My approach to diabetes is that I had to deal with it when my mom got ill,” he said.
“My mom had diabetes and it greatly affected her health and influenced her death.
“I don’t like to see that happening any more than it has to,” added Abdul-Jabbar.
.@kaj33 just finished his talk in Al Ain, giving health & fitness tips to UAE kids @Sport_360 pic.twitter.com/vM5KxkO5ZK
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) October 29, 2014
A cancer survivor himself, Abdul-Jabbar has beaten leukaemia and knows firsthand the importance of prevention.
He is encouraging the UAE to invest in their youth through sport and believes staying active is the best method to be healthy.
“I’ve noticed how the UAE has the ability to build things and I was thinking at a certain point, the skateboard parks and basketball courts and various types of athletic fields would also be a great help to this country,” he said.
“Young people are always into sports and they would enthusiastically pursue them if they had the facilities.”
Abdul-Jabbar also considers walking as a major exercise and has taken part in the Walk 2014 social media campaign by posting a shoe-selfie of his long stride.
“One thing that everyone should remember is it’s not about perfection,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
“You do not have to become a world-class NBA athlete like myself, you just have to do something for yourself on a regular basis that enables you to be healthy.
“So walking 30 minutes a day for three days a week will greatly reduce the incidents of diabetes and other health problems.
“Your health will improve. It will add years to your life and it will add life to your years.
“That’s something you should think about when taking care of yourself over a long period of time.
“Without exercise, you deteriorate pretty quickly.”
Take a step for diabetes w/ ICLDC & #Walk2014 for a chance to meet me @ymcofficial AbuDhabi. http://t.co/uQkPDn8BRv pic.twitter.com/vRInrYQYCn
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) October 22, 2014
The NBA Hall of Famer is in the region to promote Walk 2014, which is expected to see 20,000 people come out for stroll on the F1 track at Yas Marina Circuit on November 7.
A new programme, HealthX, will also take place on November 7 which will engage members in a forum to consider better ways to advance community health.
