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Food habit, physical inactivity threat to better life

Manzurul Alam Mukul || risingbd.com

Published: 04:39, 30 November 2015   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
Food habit, physical inactivity threat to better life

Manzurul Alam Mukul: Sports and games play an important role in maintaining one`s physical fitness. But it has now become impossible due to lack of playgrounds and open space.


Earlier, there were many open places and playgrounds used to play but now we don`t find many empty places countrywide, especially in Dhaka city.


The open space has been shrinking day by day. Our children are being deprived of healthy childhood and most of them spending their time before TV and computer which tells upon their physical and mental health.


Many open places are now being used as parking places of vehicles. It is sad to know that only 21 playgrounds are available for nearly 20 million people of Dhaka.  


Besides, lifestyle, like a change in food habits, is often a trigger. There is growing a tendency among the school going students and youths taking junk foods is prestigious. They also don’t go for regular exercise and sport events to burn calories and stay healthy.


Experts at the Center for Diseases Control & Prevention say the rate of chronic and other illnesses are higher among the kids who consume junk foods regularly.

According to food and nutrition specialists, the more highly processed items and the foods, processed in unhygienic way, usually fall under the category of junk food.


According to a data of International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there were 5.9 million cases of diabetes in Bangladesh in 2014.  At present the number of country’s diabetic patients is 71 lakh. Diabetes prevalence in Bangladesh would reach 12 million by 2035, posing a big challenge to the health system.


IDF has also published a list of top 10 countries with higher prevalence of diabetes. China is the on the top of the list with the higher prevalence of diabetes and Bangladesh is in the 10th position.


It is also estimated that globally one person among 11 people suffer from diabetes, of which 60 per cent are women and 65 per cent men.  Only three people among 11 patients take treatment.


According to IDF, globally 12 percent of total health budget is spent for diabetic patients. At present, five lakh and 42 thousand child diabetic patients in the world.


All types of diabetes should be treated under a close collaboration between patients and healthcare providers in order to prevent long-term complications such as damage to the eyes, kidney, feet and heart. People with diabetes must be treated to avoid early death.

Obesity: The obesity epidemic now continues its alarming increase worldwide including Bangladesh. At present almost 40 percent of adults everywhere are overweight or obese, more than doubled since 1980.


A study published in The Lancet (UK medical journal) shows that food consumption habits are worsening across the developing world, raising the likelihood of a double burden of obesity.


The study, which analysed the eating habits of people in 187 countries in 1990 and 2010, attributes expanding waistlines to worsening food consumption habits. The study shows that obesity and overweight are increasing in Bangladesh.


Overweight and obesity are caused by many factors. For each individual, body weight is determined by a combination of genetic, metabolic, behavioral, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic influences.  But, behavioral and environmental factors are large contributors to overweight and obesity.  For the vast majority of individuals, overweight and obesity result from excess calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity.


A recent icddr,b studies exploring nutrition trends in Bangladesh confirm that overweight and obesity are serious public health threats, especially among children, and it is causing huge deaths every year.


In fact, the leading causes of death in Bangladesh in 2013, identified by the Global Burden of Disease Study, were stroke, ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Obesity is a precursor to all three of these non-communicable diseases, and it is caused by a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle.


Epidemiological studies show an increase in mortality associated with overweight and obesity. Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30) have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death from all causes compared to individuals with a BMI in the range of 20 to 25.


A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds increases a person`s risk of developing type 2 diabetes to twice that of individuals who have not gained weight, while those who gain 44 pounds or more have four times the risk of type 2 diabetes.


Overweight and obesity are also known to exacerbate many chronic conditions such as hypertension and elevated cholesterol. Overweight and obese individuals also may suffer from social stigmatization, discrimination, and poor body image.


The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity is associated with both direct and indirect costs. Direct health care costs refer to preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to overweight and obesity (for example, physician visits and hospital and nursing home care). Indirect costs refer to the value of wages lost by people unable to work because of illness or disability, as well as the value of future earnings lost by premature death.


Disparities in the prevalence of overweight and obesity also exist based on socioeconomic status. For all racial and ethnic groups combined, women of lower socioeconomic status.


Although obesity-associated morbidities occur most frequently in adults, important consequences of excess weight as well as antecedents of adult disease occur in overweight children and adolescents. India, our middle-income neighbour and malnutrition contemporary, is already the third most obese country in the world by population.

 
The obesity and diabetes epidemic now continues its alarming increase in Bangladesh. In the circumstance, to prevent this epidemic from engulfing Bangladesh, experts opine that there need an appropriate health policy to guide future heath programmes and policies on nutrition.  People should be made awareness about calorie consumption and physical activity through different health programmes. Health related matters including calorie consumption and physical activity should be included in academic curriculum. There should be satellite centers across the country to deal with the issue to give our children a better and smooth life. So, besides the government, all of us should come ahead to build open places and playgrounds, identify open places and fields and preserve those so that the new generation can grow up with healthy food habit.


Risingbd/DHAKA/Nov 30, 2015

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