Rise Of 'Fitness Obsession': UAE Experts Warn Against Extreme Diets, Excessive Exercise

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) As weight-loss trends, intense workout routines and carefully curated fitness content continue to dominate social media, health experts are warning that the pursuit of a“perfect” body can sometimes come at the expense of health.

Doctors say they are increasingly seeing people take dieting and exercise to extremes, with prolonged calorie restriction, rapid weight loss and excessive training potentially affecting everything from hormones and bone health to mental wellbeing.

Recommended For You Iran, Oman discuss resuming talks, Strait of Hormuz navigation

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

“In my practice, I increasingly see patients becoming very focused on weight, body shape and fitness, sometimes to the point where healthy habits become unhealthy extremes,” said Dr Priyanka Porwal, internal medicine specialist at Aster Clinic, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai.“Health is about balance, and when that balance is lost, the body starts sending warning signals.”

When healthy habits become harmful

One of the key concerns with extreme dieting and excessive exercise is low energy availability, where the body does not receive enough energy to support both physical activity and its essential functions.

Dr Porwal said patients may initially experience fatigue, dizziness, poor concentration, irritability and declining exercise performance. If inadequate energy intake continues, it can contribute to nutritional deficiencies, muscle loss, hormonal disturbances and reduced bone health.

Ruba El Hourani, Head of the Preventive Health & Nutrition Department at RAK Hospital, said chronic energy deficiency can also weaken immunity and, in severe cases, cause electrolyte disturbances that may increase the risk of abnormal heart rhythms.

Other complications can include stress fractures, chronic fatigue, poor recovery, gastrointestinal problems and an increased risk of disordered eating, she said.

Many people assume that 'more exercise' and 'less food' automatically lead to better health,” El Hourani said.“But beyond a certain point these behaviours become harmful and can significantly impair both physical performance and long-term health.”

Dr Ghaida Kaddaha, Consultant Endocrinology and Diabetology at Medcare Hospital Al Safa, said severe calorie restriction, prolonged fasting and very rapid weight loss can leave the body without sufficient energy and nutrients.

“Healthy eating and regular exercise are important for overall health, but problems can arise when someone takes either to an extreme,” she said.

Rapid weight loss can also increase the risk of complications such as gallstones and gastro-esophageal reflux disease, Dr Porwal said. For most people, she added, gradual weight loss of around 0.5–0.9kg a week is more sustainable than attempting to lose weight rapidly.

“Exercise is medicine, but like medicine, the dose matters,” Dr Porwal said.“Too little may not help, and too much can absolutely cause harm.”

Men, women can be affected differently

Experts say prolonged under-fuelling can disrupt hormones and reproductive health in both women and men, although the effects may present differently.

In women, inadequate energy availability can disrupt the hormones responsible for regulating the menstrual cycle, leading to irregular periods or amenorrhoea. Prolonged low oestrogen levels can reduce bone density, increasing the risk of stress fractures and potentially affecting fertility.

“In women, low energy availability can disrupt the hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle, leading to irregular periods or periods stopping altogether,” Dr Kaddaha said.“Over time, this can affect fertility and, when combined with low oestrogen levels, contribute to reduced bone density and a higher risk of stress fractures.”

Men can experience reduced testosterone as a result of chronic calorie restriction and overtraining. This can contribute to lower libido, fatigue, mood changes, impaired fertility and loss of muscle mass.

Both sexes can lose muscle during rapid weight loss, particularly when protein intake and resistance training are inadequate. Bone health can also suffer when hormonal changes, inadequate nutrition and excessive exercise persist.

“The aim of fitness is to add years to your life, not just subtract kilograms from the weighing scale,” Dr Porwal said.

When does fitness become an obsession?

Experts say the amount of exercise or dietary restriction alone does not determine whether a behaviour has become unhealthy. A more important question is how much control food, exercise and body image have over a person's life.

Warning signs include constantly counting calories, repeatedly checking weight or body shape, eliminating entire food groups without medical need, feeling guilty or anxious after eating and becoming extremely distressed when a workout is missed.

Exercising despite illness, injury or exhaustion is another red flag. So is prioritising workouts over sleep, work, education, relationships or social activities.

Physical symptoms can provide additional clues, including unexplained or rapid weight loss, persistent fatigue, dizziness, feeling unusually cold, hair loss, menstrual changes and recurrent injuries.

“If food, exercise or body image is beginning to interfere with relationships, work, studies, sleep or everyday life, it is worth speaking to a doctor or qualified mental health professional,” Dr Kaddaha said.

She stressed that eating disorders can affect people at any body size, meaning appearance should not be used as the sole measure of whether someone needs help.

The warning signs can be particularly important for parents to recognise in teenagers. Dr Porwal said unexplained weight loss, mood changes, social isolation, skipped meals, excessive exercise and an increasing preoccupation with calories or body shape should raise concern.

“A healthy lifestyle should still allow you to have a birthday cake, take a rest day and go on holiday without feeling that you have committed a crime,” she said.

Experts also want people to recognise that rest is part of fitness, rather than a failure of discipline.

Social media and the 'perfect' body

Doctors say social media is adding another layer of pressure, particularly for teenagers and young adults.

Highly curated photographs, filters, editing, specific poses and“fitspiration” content can create an unrealistic picture of what a healthy body should look like. Young people may then compare their real, unfiltered appearance with someone else's carefully selected online image.

El Hourani said influencers may promote extreme diets, intense training or rapid body transformations without revealing the role of genetics, professional support, photo editing, lighting or commercial interests.

This can encourage restrictive eating, excessive exercise and the use of unregulated supplements or weight-loss products, potentially increasing the risk of disordered eating and mental health problems.

Dr Kaddaha also pointed to algorithms, which can create a feedback loop in which users who interact with weight-loss or body-transformation content are shown increasingly more of it.

For Dr Porwal, the central message is that appearance cannot provide a complete picture of health.

“A photograph cannot tell you someone's hormone levels, bone density, sleep, mental health or nutritional status,” she said.

“There is also no single 'perfect' body; genetics, age, sex and individual physiology all play a role.”

She added:“The mirror can tell you what you look like. It cannot tell you what your hormones, bones or heart are going through.”

Experts recommend focusing on strength, energy, mobility, recovery and overall wellbeing rather than attempting to reproduce someone else's appearance.

As Dr Porwal put it, "Fitness should make you stronger, healthier and happier, not exhausted, anxious and afraid.”

ALSO READ

UAE longevity boom: Doctors reveal anti-ageing treatments worth the money GLP-1 drugs reshaping fitness: UAE experts stress strength training is key UAE sees rising demand for 'XS-XL' body contouring trend; doctors warn of risks

MENAFN22082026000049011007ID1111576831