New iPad application targets Arabs with diabetes

Health conscious Arabs are being targeted by a new ipad application, which is believed to be the first to offer users variety of eating options based on a range of diets.

“ROKCO” – the brainchild of European chef Rok Jurca – allows users to choose between nine different diet options, including low calories, low cholesterol, low carbohydrates, vegetarian, vegan.

Video recipes of meals, which are searched directly through YouTube, many which come with a detailed breakdown of the consumption of calories, proteins, fats, cholesterol, carbohydrates and sugar.

Speaking in Dubai at the Middle East launch of the App, Jurca told Arabian Business: “There is no shortage of video recipes out there – what I wanted to do is create on with a really detailed guide not just of how to cook something, but exactly what it is you are putting in your mouth. I’m hoping that this region, especially with the health issues it faces, can benefit most.”

According to the International Diabetes Federation, the number of people suffering with diabetes in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to double in less than 20 years. Data published last year from the IDF said that 32.6 million people – 9.1% of the MENA population – now have diabetes, and over 19 million may be undiagnosed.

Five of the 10 countries where diabetes is the highest are located within the GCC, including Kuwait where the rate is over 21%.

Jurca said: “The most worrying statistic from the IDF is that the number of people with diabetes will double over the next twenty years. But it isn’t too late – not just through changing diets but a range of other measures, I don’t see why we have to just accept that things will carry on getting worse.”

Jurca is also monitoring the soaring obesity rates in the region, with ROKCO adapted to search for meals containing less than 300 calories in total. Earlier this year, a report published by BMC Public Health revealed that Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain were ranked among the world’s top ten fattest nations with obesity rates expected to severely affect global food security. It said the average person in Kuwait, the second fattest country in the world behind the United States, weighs in at approximately 77.5 kg, 15.5kg heavier than the global average.

“One of the things we really focused on early on when developing ROKCO was to try and find as many different eating options for really low calorie meals that you can cook. We know from experience, and really from human nature, that if you can’t easily find a recipe, you will either cook something less healthy or eat out. So just having those meals coming up within seconds will hopefully persuade people, especially those that really need to, to consider a more healthy option.”

Currently ROKCO is only being launched in English, though Jurca said an Arabic version was possible early next year.