Nowadays, India is also becoming a junk food hub. Now, ‘Khaoo Gullies’ are over taken by fast food centres and cafeterias. Dieting is one of the biggest challenges today. Lifestyle diseases like obesity, heart disease and blood pressure are common in every Indian family and death due to this is also on rise. As the junk food hubs have occupied the city space, so the fitness, slimming and cosmetics surgery centres are also mushrooming in metropolitans. Size zero has become a fashion statement but, control over food habit is yet to be inculcated in city’s busy yet modern lifestyle. Health food, health tips and slimming products in the market have taken lives for granted. No medical norms are followed while gulping these tablets, powders. There are thousands of advertisements and commercials claiming to help lose weight without any efforts.
I was going through a report where few diet experts did a research and have drawn a conclusion that Indians are consuming junk food more often than in the past and they have warned that this may possess a major risk to their international fast food chains, for spoiling Indian dietary patterns is not enough. They said that fast food have reached rural markets in the form of potato chips and soft-drinks and have recommended for remedial measures to be taken. Potato chips and other packet snacks are available even in remote villages, where you may not find a school or a ration shop. These things have reached where still government supplies have not been reaching. You can get soft-drink in remote villages where you may not get clean water. McDonald’s and Pizza Hut may not have reached there but packet foods and soft drinks are making one addicted to them.
If you want to reduce this trans-fat-laden junk food then it is suggested that it should be banned in schools because it is difficult for children to resist them. Commercial advertisement should also be banned because this also influences children the most. Homemade food should be encouraged in schools as we grew up consuming traditional food in school. Problem of junk food was not just limited to food items like burgers and pizzas but, traditional Indian snacks prepared using vegetable fats were also a big threat. We should not just ban burgers but all the products which contain high quantity of trans fat. Everything that tastes good is bad for health. It is either made with ghee and butter or with trans fats sourced from vegetables. So, whatever contains trans fats is unhealthy regardless of whether it is commercial or not. There are mixed reaction over it.
These days, young generation prefers fast food but report suggests that they should avoid these foods. As far as traditional recipes are concerned, we should go for that. The contrary opinion suggested that junk food was a necessity given the changed nature of people’s daily lives and now comes in many variants. Nowadays, people consume their food ‘fatafat’. Mothers also use microwave in their kitchen. This habit we have seen in children whose both parents are doing jobs. Nowadays, we are getting baked potato chips. We cannot tell if it is fat free, whether it has more than 0.2 grams of trans fats per serving. A recent report by the Centre for Science and Environment has accused many brands for labelling their products trans-fat-free even though they contained it in large amounts. Trans-fat consumption increases the risk of coronary heart disease leading to recommendations by health experts that they be consumed only in traces.
Earlier, in Indian celebrations and functions one consumed high calorie food and fat diet, we Indians generally believe in feasting or fasting, both has to have special pattern of rich food (which necessarily is not healthy). Fasting is a holy belief, where they claim to be on fast but, eat food like sabudana, peanuts, sweet potatoes containing high calorie compared with one time average meal of staple food of India. The mix and misconceptions of fasting and celebrating festivals, birthdays or any ritual offerings is defined as having unusual food (fried, heavy fats and sweets). It might be one of the reasons; an average Indian suffers with cholesterol, sugar and obesity. Size zero or looking good is only limited to the glamour industry.
If we look into wider prospects, there are many liposuction, grooming centres, etc, which claim to be miracle place for women who want to look 10 years younger than their age but still looking at Ekta Kapoor, Tina Ambani, Farha Khan and Saroj Khan, it seems like a myth. The scientific research says, no matter how much you botox your face, how many surgeries you go through, unless and until your system is not habituated to its detox cycle, i.e. perspiring, working out, stretching muscles, no artificial remedies are ever permanent.
Here, I would like to get certain things into notice; in one way, the commercialisation of Ayurveda and Indian traditional methods such as Massage (malish), yoga, etc has become ‘Page 3’ affair and costly for common man and on the other hand, fast food centres, foreign techniques, western lifestyle, addictions and show off business have taken over an average Indian’s life. People earn to survive eating basic food but land up in spending on chain of food hubs and to eradicate the side effects of it, they again relay on foreign products.
In short, overweight or slim is not the parameter of healthy life. Respect your body and say no to cosmetology, dieting, using foreign products, botox, slimming pills, etc. It just needs willingness and respect for your own self. There comes the beauty within.
