Rapid urbanization, sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy dietary trends are key reasons for the rampant spread of diabetes and obesity: Experts

World Diabetes Day: BID&E Diabetes Awareness walk


November 22, 2009

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BID&E) organized a Diabetes Awareness Walk on Sunday at Boat Basin in Clifton, Karachi. Around 2, 000 people of all age groups and from all walks of life, including leading physicians, doctors, people with diabetes, their families, representatives from media and press, and citizens participated.
The Chancellor of Baqai Medical University Prof. FU Baqai, International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Honorary President Prof. Abdul Samad Shera and Pakistan Diabetes Association Secretary General inaugurated the walk. “Eat less and walk more” was the theme of the walk.
Addressing the participants, BID&E Director Prof. Abdul Basit said that BID&E has recently won the unique international honour of being nominated as the IDF Centre of Education while there were only six such centers in the world.
BID&E was determined to improve diabetes care in Pakistan. BID&E has been working for the prevention of diabetes in the country. Henceforth, the institute has with the collaboration of World Diabetes Foundation launched “National Diabetes and Diabetic Foot Programme” with an aim to create awareness regarding diabetes, to initiate the prevention of diabetes and to improve the diabetes care and the diabetic foot care in Pakistan, said Prof. Basit.
In his address, Prof. Abdul Samad Shera said that rapid urbanization; sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy dietary trends that have prevailed in Pakistani society were key reasons behind the rampant spread of diabetes and obesity. These facts have ranked the country as one with the highest number of diabetics and facing an epidemic of diabetes, which also depicts an alarming situation worldwide.
Prof. Shera claimed as he said that according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, more than 7 million Diabetics lived in Pakistan while this number will increase to 16 million by 2025. Another 6 million or more suffer from impaired glucose tolerance, which gives an indication that these have been at high risk of developing diabetes. The situation has ranked the country as the 8th in the world in terms of number of people with diabetes and would be placed 4th by the year 2025.
As a keynote speaker on the occasion, Prof F.U Baqai advised the people that change in the life style from sedentary to more active with regular physical exercise and taking a balanced diet containing more of fruits, vegetables and fiber rather than the high calorie fatty and sugary diet, and walking half an hour daily could prevent diabetes in a large proportion of people.
Prof. Baqai said that not only adults but also children were now becoming obese and suffering from diabetes at a very young age, which has resulted as a consequence of eating plenty of junk food and entailing to video and computer games rather than active sports.Prof. Baqai suggested that all segments of the society including government, school authorities and parents must strive for concrete measures such as to add health education in the school curriculae and impose a ban on unhealthy diets in the school canteens while government should make it mandatory for schools to have play ground.