PESHAWAR: Like diarrhea and pneumonia, obesity and overweight during childhood, have increased manifold in recent years in the developing countries including Pakistan.
The main reason for the same is the excessive use of substandard and unsafe foods. The situation demands a ban on the sale and purchase of junk foods at least in educational institutions to safeguard the health of school-going children. Substandard food is considered as one of the leading causes of such diseases in children in countries such as Pakistan, India, Brazil, Bangladesh, Mexico, etc.
Junk food consumption during school time
According to World Health Organization, one out of 10 people in the world fall ill after eating unhealthy and unhygienic food every year. The data reveals that the number of children aged 5 to 19 having symptoms of obesity and overweight had increased from 11m in 1975 to 124m in 2016 globally due to junk food consumption during school time.
The cases of obesity and overweight have increased in the country due to excessive consumption of unhealthy food, sedentary lifestyle, and use of mobile phones,” said Dr Riaz Khan Malik, principal medical officer, and children specialist, at Government Hospital Pabbi Nowshera while talking to APP.
Dr Riaz while citing the Pakistan Health Commission (PHC)’s 2018 report said that over 11 percent of children in the country were overweight and more than 5 percent obese, while according to data compiled through hospital-based studies and surveys 40 percent to 50 percent of children were either overweight or obese, which was a matter of great concern.
He said that schools and gyms closures due to the lockdown restrictions, and limited sports events during the Covid-19 era, especially in urban areas, resulted in the rise of obesity cases in Pakistan. “Overweight and obesity was as injurious to health as diarrhea and pneumonia and if untreated, it can lead to serious health complications,” he said adding overweight youth aged 20-25 years can easily develop digestive disorders, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and many harmonic issues. He said that potato chips, burgers, snacks, shawarma, beverages and open sale of unhygienic foods in markets and educational institutions were affecting children’s health.
Dr Riaz Malik recommended healthy balanced diet, daily exercise, avoidance of sugary drinks and dining-out to reduce risk of obesity.
Spokesman Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFS&HFA),Qaiser Khan told the news agency that 158,481 inspections were conducted and 944,178 kilograms of substandard food items were discarded last year. The teams discarded 41,678 litres of adulterated milk, 152,460 litres of counterfeit beverages, and 122,128 kg of substandard bakery & confectionery items.
Similarly, various wholesale dealers were inspected and 205,584kg of substandard items were seized and discarded. The Authority also discarded 26,629 kg of unhealthy chips, 35,662 kg of spices besides 19,314 kg of stale fish and 20,790 kg of oil and ghee in the province.
He said that seven new mobile food testing laboratories were established in different divisions of the province to check the quality of products in hotels and conduct a crackdown against substandard and adulterated food items on the spot. Qaiser said that five more such laboratories would be established in the current fiscal year.
The Authority’s director operations, Altaf Hussain said the quality of food items in markets was being closely monitored and strict action are being taken against violators.
Shah Rukh Ali Khan, Director General KP FS&HFA said that mobile food testing laboratories were equipped with high-tech testing equipment with the ability to test over 20 food items instantly. He said the monitoring of food services in markets has increased and special focus was being paid to bringing positive changes in the behaviour of food handlers and owners for better quality assurance.
The DG said over 7,000 food handlers were provided with food safety level training last year for better food processing besides regular awareness sessions conducted for the promotion of healthy food practices in the province. — APP
