By IANS,
Gurgaon : More than a thousand people ranging in age between 12 and 60 Sunday participated in the ‘Run from Obesity’ here to spread awareness and educate people on the ills of obesity.
“The sole aim of the run was to spread awareness against obesity, a epidemic that significantly increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, cancer and premature death,” Dr.Sandeep Malhotra, director, Bariatric Surgery, Medanta Medicity told IANS.
Organised by Medanta Medicity, the run covered about four kms.
The anti-obesity campaign was attended by over 1600 runners. Over 250 school-going children and their parents, and about 200 college students participated in the event.
“The anti-obesity run started at 8 a.m. and ended around 12 noon. We had runners in four categories – children aged 12 years and under, seniors over 60 years who had to run only for two kms, and men and women between 13 and 60 years who ran about four kms,” Malhotra added.
A recent survey by Nielsen indicated that the incidence of obesity in urban areas is as high as 20 percent. Another figure highlighted that over 30 percent school children in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) are obese.