Thursday, March 24, 2005

Obesity in India




I had mixed emotions when I read this Column in The Week Magazine.

a) Who would expect these problems in India. The world thinks India is a Third World country ! How would they know that there is a big divide !

b) I am happy that people are writing and talking about all this and that magazines are covering it as a result.

The general thought until now was that 'We'll stay fit if we eat right' and 'We don't eat as much meat/fat etc..like the Western world!' But alas..We fell prey to Obesity, thanks to the Modern day lifestyle and our misconceptions about our food habits.

Add to this The Stress of Modern days, the lack of Playgrounds, walk-areas ( can anyone go for a walk..Where is the place to walk in Most cities) and the content pressure on kids to perform academically. Net result is quite clear. A Bulging waistline in the late teens..!! Diabetes..! Heart Problems in early 40's..! And all kinds of chronic diseases unheard of, a decade back.

India has to get out of the shackles and learn to mix its ancient culture with the Modern life style people are following these days. The result will produce a 'Shining Star' in South Asia 'A Healthy Modern India'.

If we miss the bus on this, it will be a tough path of recovery later.

Afterall India is the country which gave the world YOGA.

2 comments:

Narayanan Venkitu said...

Jagan, Good Point. I try to follow what you have said .! I eat atleast 2/3 hours before sleep.
Eat in small quantities once in 4 hours.

Twin-Gemini said...

Plus there are a lot of fast food chains rapidly growing now in India. This will also add to the calories.