Prevalence of diabetes and obesity in India
A recent study says 11.4% of India’s population or 10.13 crore people are living with diabetes.
15.3% of the population or an additional 13.6 crore people are pre-diabetic.
It also found that 28.6% of the population would be considered to be obese as per the BMI measure.
According to the WHO, a major reason for this is the consumption of unhealthy ultra-processed foods and beverages.
which are aggressively marketed displacing traditional diets.
unhealthy ultra-processed foods and beverages
Scientific evidence shows that diets heavy with ultra-processed food and beverages or high in sugar, fat, and salt are risky and can lead to diabetes.
A 10% increase in the consumption of ultra-processed food a day is associated with a 15% higher risk of type-2 diabetes among adults.
Obesity and diabetes are key risk factors for heart disease and deaths.
A study showed that those who had more than four servings of ultra-processed food a day were much more at risk of cardiovascular mortality than those who took less than two servings a day.
How to regulate food industry.
India is a playground for the food industry.
In last 20 years the sales of sugar – sweetened beverages fallen down in high income countries.
To compensate the loss of sales, MNCs focusing on low and middle income countries.
The only way the government can safeguard people from the manipulative strategies of the food industry
There should be a legal framework with a definition of healthy food.
The people must be informed of the risk of consuming such food.
The governments of South Africa, Norway, and Mexico have recently taken similar actions.
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