OBESITY : A GLOBAL PROBLEM

According to WHO, although soaring rates of obesity in the US have attracted most attention, the situation in Europe is equally dire. Today the problem of obesity is not limited to US & Europe only, it is a global problem today. WHO predicts, if current trends continue a tenth of Europe’s children will be obese by 2010, twice the proportion a decade ago. And if no action is taken almost 150 million Europeans across all ages will be obese by 2010, compared with 125 million in 2002.

The immediate target is to stop the increase of obesity in children. Once obese, it is difficult to reverse and almost invariably progresses to diabetes. Government may be encouraged to tackle obesity on four fronts :

(a) Improving exercise & diet.
(b) Especially in schools, making healthy foods more available
(c) Regulating the advertisement of junk foods for kids in the electronic media.
(d) and counseling people against over eating.

Meanwhile British researcher said good health not only benefits the individual but also a nation’s economy. The researcher studied the link between health & wealth in economically well-off countries, finding healthier people were more productive, earned more, and spent more time in the work force.
(Extract from Times of India dated 15th Nov 06.)

Addition by the blog owner : Why should we wait for Government to tackle your or your child's health ? Start by yourself from today. You know "Charity begins at home". Try to correct the wrong food habits and life style of your child to control his obesity and help him take a turn to a right direction :

§ STOP giving Soft drinksyour to your as these soft drinks are nothing but poison.

§ DON'T make them overeating. To my experience, most of the parents of today having only one child, they love their child by feeding too much unnecessary.

§ STOP giving junk foods like pizza, burger, maggi, noodles etc to name few.

§ GIVE them fresh fruits instead of junk foods. Avoid too much of sweets.

§ Most of the children today don’t eat vegetable, which is again not good for health because vegetables supply many essential nutrients for our body. Try to change the habit and give them Vegetables..

§ Don’t go for foods just for tastes, go for nutritional values.

§ Avoid eating out as far as possible.

§ Now come to life style. Nowadays most of the children are in the habit of doing finger exercise with the remote control of the TV or key board of the PC. Change this to free hand exercise ( with expert's guidance) or Yoga or atleast some sports activity on the play ground or club.

§ Do not allow children to sit on TV or Computer hours together. This habit harms children maximum because they are sitting at home idle when they should be at play ground.

This is how the middle class or village children are generally not Obese because their parents can't afford to give junk foods to their children and forced to eat vegetables, and other foods which is better than the junk foods.

DIABETES IN CHILDREN

DIABETES IN CHILDREN DUE TO LIFE STYLE & FOOD HABITS

Like every year, this year also "Insulin Discovery Day" and "World Diabetes Day" passed silently. Except few Doctors, nobody knew this. Whereas, Diabetes is like an epidemic today. It is spreading among the children and it is due to the same ‘Life Style’.

India is No. 1 in having Diabetic patient in the world. At this moment in India, no. of Diabetic patients is around 3.5 crores. By year 2025 this figure will cross 6.0 crores as predicted by Doctors. In Heart disease also India is topping. WHO has predicted that by 2010, world’s 60% patients will be Indian. Diabetes is the reason for many diseases in our body including Heart disease. Doctors say that in West Bengal diabetics are alarmingly increasing including among the children.

Insulin was discovered in 1921, 30th July and it was first applied to a 14 year old boy Leonardo Thomson of Canada. In the last these many years, the attack of Diabetes on children, boys and girls has not come down. The Diabetes which can not be treated other than taking Insulin is called TYPE-I Diabetes and which is treated with Medicine in place of Insuline, is called TYPE –II Diabetes. Nowadays Type-II diabetes is increasing among the children throughout the world. Main reason of this is Changed life style of the children . Today children don’t play on the play ground, don’t take part in any physical activities. They play with remote control either with TV or Computer. As a result there is no exercise of their body. More over consumption of Fast Food has increased among the children. Side by side stress due to parents’ constant pressure for study (scoring highest marks in the class) is also responsible. Due to this type of Life style, children are becoming victim of this disease.

As per doctors if diabetes is not detected at primary stage it will cause different problems at later stage. If a boy of 7 years is attacked by diabetes, at the age of 20 or before, different complications will be surfacing in his body. That’s why, prevention of the disease is most important and essential.

SUPPLEMENT IS THE SOLUTION

Due to occupational hazards, fast life or whatever may be the reason, most of us often skip breakfast or meals, often take junk foods. We don’t prefer to take fresh fruits and vegetables instead of junk foods, The junk foods, what we take, do not provide variety of nutrients. Most of us select foods to satisfy our cravings and never go for nutritional values. The problem is, our body still need a daily intake of over 45 essential nutrients to maintain optimal health. As a result foods what we take fail to supply the different essential nutrients to our body.

Filling the nutritional gap :

Since many diets fall well short of providing essential nutrients the body needs, it is important to identify a good source of essential nutrients. The natural solution is nutritional SUPPLEMENTS. Supplements offer a quick, easy way to get the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants necessary for optimal health. In fact, a balanced nutritional program that includes supplements offers important protections ranging from your immune system to the density of your bones and gradually you will lead to a disease-free long life.

Deficiency of essential nutrients

Under supply of essential nutrients to our body cause deficiency or malnutrition to our body and the this nutritional deficiencies in our body can cause a disease. Diseases may not surface immediately but at later stage when it reaches to about 70%, we come to know about it, when it is late for preventive actions. These nutritional deficiencies in our body are occurring on account of various reasons, some of these are listed below :

(a) Not eating Nutritional foods. Almost impractical to eat balance food as per dietitian‘s chart in today’s life style.
(b) Eating too much of processed foods, vegetable oils and spreads. Due to fast life, consumption of very little of fruits and vegetables in our daily diets.
(c) Taking intense processed and refined foods.
(d) Normally we don’t get fresh fruits and vegetables. It looses its most of the natural properties along with freshness when reaches to us from market. More over these fruits and vegetables contain harmful chemicals due to indiscriminate use of fertilizer and pesticides.
(e) Faulty cooking method and use of wrong cooking mediums.
(f) Skipping meals due to fast and busy corporate life and making habit of taking junk foods like Pizza, Burger, noodles etc.
(g) We generally like to take tasty foods just to satisfy our cravings rather than going for nutritional values.

In addition to the above we also indulge in some bad habits such as smoking, drinking of alcohol and too much of soft drinks. Consumption of ‘bad’ fats in excess quantity and ‘good’ fats in negligible quantity due to selection of wrong cooking mediums and wrong food habits again. All these factors unbalance body’s nutritional pattern.

The above wrong / bad habits are the main root causes of deficiencies of nutrients in our body.

Balance Diet

It has been found that a diet which contains liberal quantities of (a) seeds, nuts, and grains , (b) Green and leafy vegetables and (c) fresh fruits, would provide essential nutrients. These foods are known as basic food groups and the diet contains these food groups as optimum diet for good health. In brief, these are described below :

(a) Grains etc :

Brown rice, beans and peas, millet, wheat, oats, barley, are all highly valuable in building health. Wheat, mung beans, alfalfa seeds and soya beans make excellent sprouts. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, peanuts and soya beans contain complete proteins of high biological value. These contain all the important nutrients needed for human growth.

Seeds, nuts and grains are also excellent natural sources of essential unsaturated fatty acids necessary for health. They are also good sources of lecithin and most of the B vitamins . They are the best natural sources of vitamin C, which is perhaps the most important vitamin for the Optimum Nutrition. Besides, they are rich sources of minerals that play an important role in the rejuvenation of cells and prevention of premature ageing.

(b) Green & Leafy Vegetables :

Vegetable are extremely rich source of minerals, enzymes and vitamins. Vegetables may be edible roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds. Fleshy roots have energy value and good sources of vitamin B . Seeds are relatively high in carbohydrates and proteins and yellow ones are rich in vitamin A. Leaves, stems and fruits are excellent sources of minerals, vitamins, water and roughage.

To prevent loss of nutrients in vegetables, it would be advisable to steam or boil vegetables on a sim heat and the water should not be drained off. Vegetable should NOT be peeled because largest amount of mineral is lost if vegetables are peeled. To preserve the nutritive values, soaking of vegetables should also be avoided.

Faulty cooking and prolonged careless storage, however, destroy these valuable nutrients. Most of the vegetables are, therefore, best consumed in their natural raw state in the form of salads.

(c) Fruits :

Like vegetables, fruits are an excellent source of minerals, vitamins and enzymes. They are easily digested. They contain high alkaline properties, a high percentage of water and a low percentage of proteins and fats. Fruits are at their best when eaten in the raw and ripe states.
They are most beneficial when taken as a separate meal, preferably for breakfast in the morning. Fruits, however, make better. It is most desirable to take one kind of fruit at a time.

Other than three basic nutritional sources mentioned above, should be supplemented with milk, vegetable oils and honey.

Milk is an excellent food. Milk helps maintain a healthy intestinal and prevents constipation. High quality unrefined oils should be added to the diet. They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids (good fat) & vitamin C. Honey is a natural’s finest energy-giving food. It is beneficial in kidney and liver disorders, colds.

A diet of the three basic food groups, supplemented with the milk, vegetable oil & honey mentioned above, will ensure a complete and adequate supply of all the vital nutrients needed for good health, and prevention of diseases.

The above basic diet may not include animal protein. Animal protein (egg, fish or meat) A high animal protein (egg, fish & meat) is harmful to health and may cause many of our common diseases.

Life style & Food habits

Introduction :
The subject which I am trying to present before you is not a new or unknown one. To some extend it is known to everybody but we don't follow or can't follow due to the changed lifestyle. It is my pleasure to say few things about wellness, nutrition and good habits for living a healthy life.

Changed Lifestyle & Food habits:
The human diet today is vastly different from that of our ancestors. For early mankind, hunting, fishing and food gathering were a survival imperative and as a consequence human beings evolved on 'natural' foods supplying a diet that was high in nutritional value.

The diet changes have taken place in the last few decades and as a result, today we are very much dependent on the processed foods and most significantly, vegetable oils and spreads. We seldom take fresh fruits and vegetables.

ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS :

‘Your food shall be your medicine’ –said by Hippocrates, a famous of all Greek physicians. Hippocratic philosophy, they might be that nature has an innate power of healing, and that diseases are closely linked to the physical environment.

Sir Robert McCarrison one of the best known nutritionists said : The right kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of health and The wrong kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of disease.

From the above it is understood that right kind of food is the key factor for a good healthy life. At least 45 Nutrients are needed by human cells. These essential nutrients must be present in our daily foods/diets to maintain optimal health. The 45 Nutrients are Oxygen & Water (2) and Other 43 essential nutrients are classified into five main groups such as Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, Fats and Carbohydrates. All 45 of these nutrients are important and they work together. Therefore, the absence of any of them will result in disease and eventually in death.

Due to adoption of wrong food habits weekens the defence system or lowered resistance in the body causing diseases. The food or group of food contains all these 45 nutrients is the balance food for maintenance of good health. A well-balanced and correct diet is thus of utmost importance for the maintenance of good health and the healing of diseases. The 45 nutrients which are essential for human cells are known as essential nutrients. These essential nutrients must be present in our daily foods.

It has been seen that diseases produced by the nutritional deficiencies can be corrected when all the nutrients are supplied. A well-balanced and correct diet is thus of utmost importance for living healthy and the early healing of diseases.