Youth Column: When Youth Becomes Healthy, The Nation Becomes Strong
Youth is the main source of energy and power to the nation. This is a segment of society that excels in the zeal to work and shoulders the maximum responsibility. That is why there are high hopes pinned on them. However, the young generation of today is suffering from many ailments owing to their wrong food habits and irregular lifestyle. This is adversely affecting the progress of the nation.
According to a report of the 'National Institute of Occupational Health', there has been a sharp decline in the productivity of youth in the past five years. Based on the study conducted in five main cities, it has been found that people working in the metro cities are prone to stress, sleeplessness, obesity and diabetes. The primary reasons for these are reduced immunity, irregular lifestyle and unhealthy food habits.
31.2% of the youth in the country are affected by some ailment or the other, the prominent one being migraine. 65% of the youth are not able to sleep for at least 6–8 hours owing to their ailments. 49% of the young population has mental afflictions owing to the physical pain, and as many as 13% among them are suffering from chronic pain because of which they had to leave their job.
As part of the same survey, numbers have been collected for diabetes as well. 87% of the families suffering from diabetes have not got their health check-up done. 57% of the youth have no idea of how diabetes adversely affects their health. 92% youth have never approached a dietician for recommendations for healthy diet. 52% of the youth do not do any kind of physical exercise. 6.4% of the youth do not even know what causes diabetes.
Indian Council of Medical Research conducted a survey on mental health in which they focused on heart-related diseases. Hypertension and high blood pressure in youth surfaced during that study. In a survey done from 2001–2011, it was found that 36% of employed people in the age group of 30–45 years are suffering from high blood pressure.
In a recent international seminar conducted in Delhi, there was a discussion on wrong eating habits of the youth. The specialists said that the seed for falling sick is sown when the child is young. More than 33% of children in Delhi are fatter than they should be, which means that those children are more likely to be prone to a variety of diseases in the next 5–8 years.
In general, physicians classify the diseases affecting the youth in two ways — one, those caused by decline in immunity; and the others related to metabolic disorders of which obesity is the main cause. Youngsters are taking to street food whenever they feel hungry, which is affecting their health adversely. FSSI conducted a survey encompassing more than 3000 street-food outlets in Delhi and found that more than 87% of those vendors were not complying with safety health standards.
Gastroenterology specialists say that only 2% of working youth are aware of healthy diet. The habit of eating whatever comes handy has led to high incidence of colitis and digestive disorders.
WHO has issued a report about 114 countries on antibiotic resistance. In India and many other countries, it has been found that effectiveness of medicines on viruses causing Diarrhea, Malaria, Pneumonia and Hepatitis-B is almost coming to an end. Experts of Antibiotic Network Stewardship in India believe that the irregular lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits of youth, and the wrong usage of antibiotics, is reducing the power of the medicines.
Well, it is now clear that weak health in youth is mainly due to irregular lifestyle and erratic food habits. In addition to that, extreme stress at work, pressure to complete tasks in stipulated timelines, excessive busyness, lack of physical exercise are also other challenges that the youth face on a daily basis. The need of the hour is for the youth to be aware of their health, maintain good eating habits, develop a healthy lifestyle and stay fit and healthy.
"The significance and joy in my science comes in those occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it.' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan." — Henry "Fritz" Schaefer
"It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed." — James Joule