By Faisal Shahzad
ISLAMABAD: Today’s citizens especially youth are facing health challenges particularly overweight and obesity due to consuming unhygienic and substandard food products. The open sale of substandard foods including shawarma, burgers, snacks, French fries, and other unhygienic food in markets and vendor shops in different parts of the country especially outside of educational institutions and sport centers are affecting the health of children and students in Islamabad and Peshawar. Health experts said that substandard foods were responsible for different diseases like stomach disorders and obesity.
Many citizens in Islamabad and Peshawar said that their kids are exposed to contaminated food products and facing many health problems including obesity. Ahmad Ali said that he is very anxious about health of his children as they are exposed to substandard foods on daily basis. He said that he advised his kids to avoid substandard food items and also requested to concerned authorities to take steps to prevent sale of substandard and unhygienic foods products in the markets.
Sports Activities
Commenting over the issue of substandard food items, Dr Basit said that obesity and overweight mostly caused by eating substandard fast food was the fifth major cause of global deaths. Responding to a question, he said that the obesity contributes to 60-70% of deaths across the world including Pakistan.
According to World Health Organization report, the number of children aged 5 to 19 with obesity increased from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016 across the world due to consumption of junk food during school time.
Pakistan has ranked 10th out of 188 nations with about 50 percent population being overweight and that the World Obesity Foundation stated that 5.4 million school-aged children in Pakistan would be overweight by 2030 if the unchecked sale and manufacturing of unsafe food continued with such a high rate in markets.
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Pakistan Health Commission’s 2018 stated almost 11 percent of children in Pakistan were suffering from overweight and five percent of obesity. The report recommended that health policymakers should take prompt steps for its prevention.
Health challenges and sports
Health expert Aqib Javed said that lack of attention to children’s food requirements, the growth of digital and social media and limited sports activities at local level had also contributed to the rise of obesity cases different parts of the country. He suggested that maximum sports activities should be promoted to address such issues in the country. He was of the view that the parents, teachers and elders should encourage the children to take part in different sports activities.
He recommended daily exercises and a healthy balanced diet besides sports activities.
