Food mafia stuffing K-P bellies

PESHAWAR:

Excessive use of unhealthy food by the bulk of teenagers and youngsters across the country has negative effects on their health, exposing them to fatal ailments like obesity, piles, allergies and stomach disorders.

Like other parts of the country, unhindered use of junk and expired food like burgers, shawarma, chicken rolls, chips and in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa also often lands its victims in doctors clinics and hospitals.

Faraz Khan, 24, a youth of Wapda Town in Nowshera was a recent instance of this dilemma as a few days back, he felt severe pain in his stomach due to irritable bowel syndrome and piles.

He was rushed to a government hospital Pabbi where doctors operated him to cure the ailment.

The doctors diagnosed that overeating of an expired chicken mostly used in shawarmas, chicken rolls, chips, snacks and burgers, besides low fat yogurt and cheese, high carbohydrate fatty food and beverages were the major causes of ailment in patients like Faraz.

He was not alone and thousands of other students of colleges and schools across K-P were exposed to unhealthy junk foods being sold openly outside educational institutions in towns and cities.

There is an abundance of such shops and foods stalls at Qissa Khwani bazaar, Namak Mandi, Karimpura, Charsadda Road, Faqirabad, Tehkal, Board bazaar, Lateeef Abad, Hayatabad, Warsak Road, Dalazak Road, Chamkani, GT Road and other localities, mostly seen selling unsafe cuisines and expired food.

Professor Dr Ata Muhammad at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar said that like many other countries, Pakistan is also confronting challenge of an overweighting, piles and obesity mostly among college and schools students who excessively consume unhygienic and substandard food.

Declaring these ailments as the fifth leading cause of death globally, Dr Ata Muhammad said that obesity contributes to about 60-70% of fatalities, besides non-communicable diseases across the world including Pakistan.

"The number of children and youth aged five to 19 with obesity has increased from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016 globally due to excessive consumption unhealthy junk food," he said referring to a WHO report.

Terming obesity a silent killer, he said around 30 percent of the world population was overweight and that equates to 44% of the global population suffering from diabetes, 23% from heart diseases and seven to 41% from cancers.

"Pakistan ranks 10th among 188 countries with about 50 percent of its population being overweight or obese," Dr Ata said while quoting a World Obesity Foundation report.

He revealed that around 5.4 million school children in the country would be obese by 2030 if open sale and manufacturing of unsafe food is not properly controlled.

Besides new emerging trends of eating, a marketing onslaught through different mediums, especially social media, was also reckoned as a major cause of attracting more and more youth to these unhealthy foods.

Professor Dr Naeem Khattak, an economist from University of Peshawar, thinks massive social media campaigns are a major cause of attracting youth to unhealthy junk food. "These mediums unfortunately tempt youth, who form around half of our population, to such foods."

Dr Sirzamin Khan, Head of Urology Department, at Govt Hospital Pabbi, has also noted that data compiled from different hospitals had revealed that 40 to 50 percent children were either overweight or obese. "Policymakers and the healthcare commission of K-P need to take prompt measures for its prevention.

Lack of parents' attention to children's food needs, publicity of different unhealthy foods items on digital and social media and their unchecked sale and limited sports events had largely contributed to such ailments," he said.

These doctors have recommended healthy, balanced and home cooked diet besides sports, daily exercises and walks, as well as regulation of sale of standard food items. Meanwhile, the Spokesman of K-P Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFS&HFA) has claimed that operation against unsafe and substandard food sellers has been accelerated across the province as during last year over 136,690 inspections were conducted and 539,982 kilograms and litres of substandard food items were destroyed.

"Thousands of litres counterfeit beverages and adulterated milk was also discarded," he said reiterating the government's resolve of zero tolerance against those involved in sale and purchase of adulterated and junk food. "Mobile food testing laboratories with latest testing equipments have been established at all divisional headquarters," he informed.

"These labs cover a range of food tests, including testing of milk, flour, edible oil, ghee, water and other food items on spot. The government is also planning to establish such labs at district level."The authority setup under KP Food Safety Authority Act of 2014 also hires volunteers alongside regular staff, to monitor food safety and quality standards, the spokesman said.