The Health Ministry has determined that there are more overweight people in the ultra-Orthodox sector than in the secular one.
Yair Amikam, the ministry's deputy director-general for information and international relations, recently launched a joint campaign with the Dairy Board aimed at fighting obesity among haredim.
Weighty Problem
OECD report indicates 26% of Israeli children suffer from excessive weight, compared to 33% in US. Adult obesity rates lower at 17%
At first, Amikam stated, the Dairy Board and ministry would work to raise awareness to the issue among children and teenagers. The campaign was to be brought to the sector's members through a haredi radio children's show.
The campaign's cost was estimated at NIS 130,000 (about $36,000), divided between the different activities of the Dairy Board and Health Ministry.
"The haredi lifestyle focuses on the dinner table," explains Shifra Krimolovsky, the campaign's initiator. "Haredim eat and celebrate a lot. When a baby boy is born in the general sector there is just a circumcision ceremony, while the haredi sector holds different social events which include a lot of food.
"At the same time, they don't engage in any physical exercise. This is the reason we are launching a campaign which will begin with the children, with the aim of getting the mothers to learn about proper eating habits and physical activity."
