KARACHI: Doctors, dieticians and sportsmen have revealed that obesity is alarmingly increasing in Pakistan and nearly 14 million children are obese in the country while the total number of people with obesity has crossed 45 million in Pakistan.

Obesity is a severe disease and the mother of most illnesses, so there is need to promote healthy lifestyle, including daily exercise, consumption of healthy food and educating young children about the need for indulging in physical activity and avoiding junk food, they said.

“I urge the people to adopt an active routine with daily workouts and consumption of balanced diet. Obesity is a disease as explained by doctors and it is a leading cause of various serious illnesses, including diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. We especially need to educate our children to have an active life and encourage them to regularly take part in sports”, said Younis Khan, renowned cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan cricket team while speaking at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Tuesday.

The news conference was organised by the Fight Obesity Initiative and it was addressed by leading bariatric surgeon Dr Tanvir Raazi Ahmed, eminent psychiatrist and president of the Pakistan Psychiatry Society Prof Iqbal Afridi, and president of the Pakistan Nutrition and Dietetic Society (PNDS) Fayza Khan as well as the vice president of PNDS Rabia Anwar.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Fight Obesity Initiative and the PNDS to regularly hold awareness activities regarding healthy lifestyle, promoting physical activity and consumption of balanced diet.

Younis Khan maintained that by taking healthy meals on time, taking time out for regular exercise and rising and going to bed early could ensure good health and prevent several diseases.

Responding to a query, he said most of the players of the Pakistan cricket team were fit and healthy as they try to remain agile, but added that players should not be asked to prove their fitness after every three months as it put them under a lot of mental stress and deteriorated their performance.

Dr Tanvir Raazi Ahmed announced the launch of Fight Obesity Initiative and informed the journalists that they had decided to launch the campaign against obesity after it emerged that “Pakistani nation is facing an epidemic of obesity”.

Unfortunately, obesity is the mother of most of the non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, various types of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer, among women.

Dr Raazi said that fortunately obesity was not only preventable, but also a treatable disease.

Prof Iqbal Afridi said obesity leads to mental issues and the mental issues often lead to obesity as well, which results in other physical issues.

“Obesity is one of the causes of depression and anxiety in both men and women. We need to educate people that consuming food in limited quantity is a healthy practice and it would not only improve their physical health, but would keep them mentally fit as well, Prof Afridi said and added that overeating was also associated with memory loss and several other mental ailments, which could be avoided by adopting healthy lifestyle.

Prof Afridi maintained that rising and going to bed early, eating simple and balanced diet, regular exercise, taking time for worship or meditation and adopting a positive approach were some key habits which could prevent mental problems, which also had physical health benefits.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2020