By IANS
Chennai : A city-based diabetes research centre Sunday launched a nationwide campaign to prevent childhood obesity and diabetes with the release of a manual on prevention of childhood obesity.
The M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, a World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre in India, handed over 4,500 copies of the manual, the first awareness handbook on the subject in the country to the Tamil Nadu government for distribution in its high schools.
The healthcare industry estimates that 20 percent of India’s children are overweight or what is defined as ‘obese’ and that more and more of them are falling prey to the ‘Type 2’ diabetes.
Therefore, the focus on the World Diabetes Day, to be observed Nov 14, is on reducing obesity in children.
“The increase in obesity in children in India, especially in the urban areas is quiet alarming,” said Vijay Viswanathan, managing director of the hospital.
“We, therefore, decided to concentrate on the food habits of children and assist parents in providing their children with a healthy nutritious diet,” he added.
The manual has guidelines on physical activity and routines that would not stress children but help them stay fit.
Experts said that obesity and lack of physical activity lead to a condition called “metabolic syndrome” which is the main factor leading to development of diabetes and causing heart attacks.
The manual provides information on prevalence of diabetes in India, causes of obesity and growth charts.