http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/11/local18.htm
ISLAMABAD: Obesity on the rise in Pakistan: study By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: One in four Pakistani adults aged 15 years or over are overweight or obese, according to the Asian-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) cut off value of 23kg/m2. A study entitled "Prevalence of overweight and obesity and their association with hypertension and diabetes mellitus in Pakistan" by Dr Tazeen H. Jaffer, head of the section of nephrology and director clinical epidemiology unit of Aga Khan University, confirms that overweight and obesity were a major public health problem in Pakistan. In addition, strong association was found between obesity and hypertension and diabetes in Pakistani population, highlighting the danger of this under-recognized pandemic. The association of lower BMI with these disease conditions in the population compared to higher levels of BMI for diagnosis of obesity means that Indo-Asian people were at a greater risk of chronic diseases at lower body weights as compared to Europeans or Americans. Thus, generally speaking, Pakistani population needs even stricter control of body weight to lower targets than non-Asian counterparts. This is a potential cause of concern seeing the continued trend towards urbanization which will cause adult levels of obesity to escalate. It seems paradoxical that an economically challenged country facing shortage of food would have a high burden of overweight people. However, the association of an "unhealthy" weight with economical deprivation is not so enigmatic. Poor people have limited choices. Many consume large amounts of commercially available cheap, reused oil which is rich in hydrogenated fats and also very energy dense. Further, with progressive industrialization in all sectors, lifestyles have become increasingly sedentary. Dr Jaffar suggests aiming for a target body weight based on Asian-specific targets and brisk walking for 30 minutes on at least four days a week. Forming walking groups help reinforce the habit. She also suggests making changes in one's lifestyle and consuming a healthy diet consisting of seasonal vegetable and fruits and reducing the amount of oil and sugar in diet. There is ample evidence that weight reduction will help prevent disabilities from strokes and heart attacks. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
