A Health expert advised that all parents should monitor their children’s eating habits and encourage the development of healthy eating and regular exercise for better mental health. Talking to a private news channel, A health specialist Dr. Shabana Naz explained that children eat excessive amounts of food, and the calories they consume mostly go unburned due to a lack of physical activity. She emphasized the need to build more and more playgrounds and parks to promote the culture of walk, exercise, jogging, and other recreational activities in children youth, and elderly people. She warned that rising obesity among children and youths is putting them at risk for several ailments, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. “Children, as well as people of all ages, have been adapted to the Western lifestyle of consuming fast food at random in our country,” she noted. Awareness campaigns should be launched to encourage healthy lifestyles, she said, adding, “We have to educate children at homes and schools on how they can stay fit.” Urbanization is also giving rise to obesity in people who are subsequently developing non-communicable diseases, she noted. Replying to a question, she said there were no proper medicines to control obesity but a balanced diet, an active lifestyle, regular exercise, walk and limited use of antibiotics could help prevent obesity.
She mentioned that the consumption of sugary drinks was also a significant contributor to Pakistan’s obesity epidemic. Sugary drink consumption has been linked to weight gain and obesity, particularly in children, she added. Yet, statistics from the WHO show that, globally, 1 in 4 adults (aged 18-64 years) do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity and current (pre COVID-19) global estimates show that 81% of adolescents do not do enough. Lockdowns around the world and movement restrictions in place to curb the COVID-19 pandemic have further limited the opportunities for people to be physically active due to the closure of schools.
