Doctors' association to undertake mega-study on childhood obesity

AHMEDABAD: An ambitious study to record the incidence of overweight and obesity in the city's schoolchildren will be undertaken by Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA) in collaboration with Cardio Vascular Health and Fitness (CVHF). The height and weight of 10,000 schoolchildren, in classes 7 to 12 at schools across the socio-economic spectrum, will be checked to ascertain the extent to which lifestyle afflictions affect young boys and girls.

"Obesity is a lifestyle disease which is growing alarmingly in the state and country. More and more children have given up balanced traditional Indian meals for burgers, pizza and other junk food. We need to intervene before it is too late," said Dr PragneshVachrajani.

Vachrajani spoke to TOI on the sidelines of a special awareness campaign organized for Doctor's Day on Monday, where students of HB Kapadia group of schools were given lectures on healthy eating and lifestyle disease prevention. Dr Vachrajani said that 5,000 students will be examined in English medium schools in upper-middle class localities, as obesity is more prevalent in children from affluent families.

The remaining 2,500 students each will be studied from private schools in middle and lower-middle class localities to cover a complete cross-section of society.

"The study will be conducted between July 15 and August 15 and the results will be submitted to the schools as well. We will leave it to the discretion of school authorities on how they address the problem," said Dr Vachrajani.

Cardiologist Dr Sameer Dani who also heads CVHF advised students to go slow on junk food and online gaming and opt for diets full of fruits, vegetables and to take up physical play.

"Studies have found that children who are overweight when 10 to 13 years old tend to become obese adults as well. Obesity predisposes you to heart disease - the biggest killer in the country. It is advisable for children to start young when it comes to embracing a healthy lifestyle," said Dr Dani.

Source: http://to.ly/mciK