CUTTACK: Even as childhood obesity is assuming alarming proportions in the country, experts have now called for strong measures like eliminating junk food from schools and inclusion of more physical activity in their curriculum. There should be a war declared against childhood obesity in India on the lines of the US where led by Michelle Obama the administration has issued stringent guidelines for school lunch programme earlier this year. School food menus have been reoriented to include healthier food to children. The Indian Government and administrators should follow the lead in prohibiting junk food and colas in the school cafeterias and promoting healthier food like fruits and salads in their place. The curriculum should be redesigned to be more balanced and involving more physical activity through sports, games and exercise and less burdening the children with homework, experts have emphasised. “We have a disastrous scenario unfolding before us. Conservative estimates have revealed that not less than 30 per cent of the children in the metros along with major towns and cities of the country are either overweight or fall into the category of obese. While obesity has been established as the root of all the major diseases like diabetes and heart problems, the situation ahead should be foreseen and pre-empted,” Bariatric surgery specialist, Digestive Surgery Clinic, Kolkata, Dr Sarfaraz Jalil Baig said here on Saturday. Baig, who was here to take part in the first live bariatric surgery workshop organised by the Shanti Memorial Hospital and Cuttack Surgeon’s Club, said parents had a vital role to play in shaping up their children’s health by pushing them into exercise and games and inculcating good food habits in them. Indians are also at a greater risk because of higher rate of visceral adiposity or accumulation of abdominal fat which is the cause of serious diseases. As such the BMI calculation has been reduced by 2.5 points for Indian settings. While for West the BMI of 25 is ideal, for Indians it is 22.5. It has also been estimated that at least 5 per cent of the population of urban India is morbidly obese while two thirds are either overweight or obese. For those morbidly obese with BMI of 37.5, bariatric surgery offers immense hope. It is completely safe with an extremely high success rate, laparascopic bariatric surgeon and head of Shanti Hospital Dr Sreejoy Patnaik said. Dr Baig and Dr Patnaik conducted two live bariatric surgeries on one Chandan Mohanty (33) of College Square, Cuttack, and Kishanlal Panch (56) of Puri, who weighed 149 kg and 109 kg respectively.
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