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Kerala
may have robust health indicators for its people but the state is fast
falling prey to ‘lifestyle’ or ‘status’ diseases. These diseases owe their
name to the changing lifestyle of the people with new gadgets taking over
the physically demanding work.
 Such a lack of physical work leads to a constant accumulation of destructive
fat in the body which conceals silent killers such as hypertension and
diabetes on account of the fast spreading phenomenon known as ‘obesity’.
Traditionally a prosperous & healthy man was believed to be the one with
overweight and potbelly and an impoverished person was believed to be thin.
Now the time has changed and the beliefs have also got its share of logic.
To be healthy today means to have a fit body with no visible hangings. The
nursery rhyme ‘chubby cheeks ……’ is no longer a good lesson to teach, for a
chubby child is no more considered a healthy child. The baby with more
bodyweight than medically recommended at the age is at the risk of obese.
These lifestyle diseases disturb the body’s balance and will lead to
ill-health and increase in the medical expenditure.
Obesity has become a major concern in health research and many scientists
across the world consider it as the cause of diabetes, hypertension and
cardiovascular disease. The body which functions without a second’s rest
day-in and day-out gets imbalanced when some of its organs get unduly burned
by the unnecessary fat which is considered major reason for the heart
diseases and diabetes.
In fact the
number of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases is much higher than the
deaths caused by the dreaded ‘AIDS’ or ‘Cancer’. The Pediatric Cardiology
Department of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences conducted a study about
obesity among children recently and one of the major findings of the study
was that the number of obese children in Ernakulam urban-rural belt has gone
up by 50% in just two years. The parallel in the obesity in children and
adolescents is reported to be the most significant factor in the high rise
of diabetes patients. These fat children and adolescent are reported to be
12.6 times more likely than non-obese to have high fasting blood insulin
levels, a risk factor for type ll diabetes.
Lack of exercises and the fast food culture is costing our children’s
health. A small opinion poll conducted will give a better idea. 30% of the
students skip their breakfast often, 97% of the students love visiting
bakeries and other fast-food huts, 36% regularly visits such fast food
centers. A mere 17% eat fresh fruits regular and 39% rarely eat any fruits.
33%spend their leisure time before idiot box (T.V) and computer games. Loss
of income is the last thing one will want but WHO reports that India lost
over 200 million U.S. dollars on heart diseases, stroke and diabetes.
Unless health planners and people at large are not going to take things
seriously, Kerala will have a handful of health problems to deal with in the
near future.
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Girish
Raghavan |
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