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THIS letter is in reference to the book entitled The Top 10 of Everything 2011, by British author Russell Ash, which revealed that Bahrain has the fattest women in the world, with 42.2 per cent of the population having an average body mass index of more than 25.

These figures are deplorable! Not only will such high obesity rates lead to chronic illnesses in these women, it will also cost the country billions of dinars over the coming decades just to treat them.

In response, I am offering free three-month membership at the DreamBody Centre for 10 obese women to help them turn their weight ... and their lives around.

We are doing this free of charge. Even if we help just one person to change their life, then I'm satisfied.

I'd like to invite people to apply for the free membership by emailing our general manager at Mark.S@DreamBodyCentre.com. Just send in your contact details and a recent full-length photograph of yourself and explain in the email why you should be chosen. We will choose the 10 most deserving candidates.

The deadline for submissions is Thursday, September 30. The DreamBody Centre is a 23-minute weight loss and fitness centre utilising specialised hydraulic training equipment. It was first launched in Bahrain in December 2007.

Suhail Algosaibi, founder, Zen-Do Bahrain Kickboxing Club and The DreamBody Centre, Hamala.

I WAS on YouTube just last week and came across a 12-year-old singing a cover version of Avril Lavigne's 'When You're Gone'. She was amazing for someone so young.

A few days later I looked her up and found out that Phoebe Rennie was based right here in Bahrain and she even had a Facebook fan site.

It must also be noted that she has appeared in GulfWeekly already but I truly believe this is a talent that deserves even more recognition.

I suggest that the local TV and radio stations invite her to appear on their shows. This is a talent that must not be ignored any longer!

A fan in Bahrain,

Name and address supplied, by email.

IT is with some concern I read last week's front page story about Glanders. I find it hard to believe that horse owners in Bahrain have not been compensated for their losses after the arrival of this terrible disease to our shores.

Surely this should have been prevented from entering the kingdom by the relevant authorities. It is not the fault of the owners who have watched their beloved horses suffer terribly, or who have had to wait weeks for the results of tests only to discover their animals are carriers of the disease and need to be slaughtered.

According to Dr Wernery, the scientific director of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory and his team in Dubia, who were called in by our government to investigate and offer advice, the disease entered Bahrain as a result of a 'known infected horse' being brought unwittingly into the kingdom from Kuwait.

Perhaps our brotherly neighbours ought to offer to pay compensation to the people of Bahrain who have suffered as a result of their failings?

A distraught horse lover,

Name and address

supplied.

I AM confused by the glanders report in last week's GulfWeekly. How can a government official question the results of a test which identified a camel as having glanders when it was confirmed by an independent laboratory in Europe? How could the test have got it wrong and why would it make it up? Surely it makes sense to have all the camels tested as suggested. In the long run isn't it better to be safe than sorry?

T. Moore, Saar.