You may get immense happiness to find chips and chocolate packs on the supermarket counter. But your happiness doubles when it shows the label of 1+1 free! The junk and packaged food we binge on is not contributing much to our immunity, infact it helps us to increase our cholesterol level (bad one), weight and make us prone to a lot more diseases. But the local shops, the most posh malls are all overflowing with the junk and packaged foods. However, COVID 19 pandemic has made us all a lot more cautious about our health, because we all want to improve our immunity and for that we need to eat healthy. This means swearing to home-made fresh food and avoiding fatty, oily and junk food. Suddenly we see everyone consuming Indian herbs and spices; haldi (turmeric), tulsi (Holy Basil), elachi (cardamom), dal-chini (cinnamon), all are welcomed in the Indian kitchens (and now in other countries too, for example we now have turmeric latte!). Even the Prime Minister of UK, Boris Johnson has realised how important it is to be fit and maintain weight as he had a tough time fighting COVID 19 due to obesity. As one learns from experience, so has the UK PM and now he has come up with some strict rules for the citizens of UK. The United Kingdom accounts for world’s third highest death toll due to COVID 19! Till date COVID 19 has taken around 46,000 lives in UK. Around two third of the adults in UK are reported to be overweight, half of them further are categorised as obese! Now the PM wants the citizens to be more responsible and fit. He has announced new rules for better public health. Some of the important changes introduced are as follows:
→ Ban on "Buy one get one free" deals on unhealthy food.
→ Displaying calories on menus so consumers can make informed choices.
→ A ban on junk food advertisements before 9 p.m. on prime time Television.
→ Review of nutrition labels on food packaging.
→ Calorie labelling on alcohol is also under consideration.
And the PM is not just saying it. He is leading by example. Since he recovered from Coronavirus, he has made it a routine to go on walk with his dog and is getting fitter.
Its not about achieving size zero and becoming skinny. Of course, we all must love the way we are. But we must also respect the body we reside in. Its all about adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Coming to Indians, we need not follow the developed nations blindly. India has rich history and culture of food. Now the world is adopting to ancient Indian techniques of ayurveda and yoga. Swear to the ancient techniques- simple food, fresh food, timely meals and regular exercise (any form). Just don’t sit on that sofa, binge watch series and movies and munch on the junk that is easily accessible to you. One small tip is to start cooking your meal. It will be fresh, with lesser oil and calories as compared to outside packaged food and be mindful of what ingredients you are consuming. Saying no to packaged food is the first step you need to do. As consumers we must be responsible in our consumption.
I leave you with a very useful resource which will help you to track your fitness routine, inform you about several fitness apps which can help you to make those small changes you must do to get the big results in long term. Do visit https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/ and make a healthy start.
Till then, Stay Smart, Stay Satark and Stay healthy.
By-
Ms Sakshi Verma
Assistant Professor
Delhi University
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