Eat fresh fruits instead of junk food, advise experts

People can stay safe from diabetes if they take natural diet and proper exercise, health practitioners, experts add

KARACHI:

Health experts on Thursday urged people not to waste money on unhealthy and junk foods when they can buy fresh fruits and vegetables for the same amount of cash.

People can stay safe from diabetes if they take natural diet and proper exercise, health practitioners said at an event titled "Rakho Apna Khayal, Diabetes Se Pehle" or take care of yourself, before diabetes.

Sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits have made more people prone to diabetes than ever before, heath experts said asserting that change of lifestyle the only option, they said at the programmed organised by Dow University of Health Science (DUHS) School of Public Health in collaboration with Primary Care Diabetics Association (PCDA) and Martin Dow Limited.

"The major cause of diabetes spread is Pakistan is the inactive lifestyle of people as they are becoming habitual of more comfortable living conditions," said Dow University of Health Science (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Prof Saeed Quraishy.

Moreover, School of Public Health Principal Dr Zaman Sheikh, Dr Kashif Shafiq, Dr Shabeen Naz, Dr Mohsina Ibrahim, Dr Asma Khan, Dr Sameera Naseem, Dr Shakeel, Miss Nadia, Dr Farid Uddin, Dr Riyasat Ali Khan, Dr Iqbal Batavia and others addressed the session.

Principal of Dow School of Public Health, Professor Kashif Shafiq said that more than 15% of the population in Pakistan is pre-diabetic (at risk of diabetes) out of which, 5 to 10% suffer from this contagious disease every year.

He said that Pakistani women are more prone to diabetes than men. The rate of pre-diabetic women in the country is 15.6%. More than half of the population of Balochistan is pre-diabetic.

Other speakers said that even among the educated people of Pakistan, there is a lack of awareness about health.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2021.