Recently, at the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), a panel of nutritionist experts held talks and discussion at the sixth edition of the ‘Illness to Wellness’ series themed ‘Lifestyle Behaviour during COVID-19’. This event saw an illustrious panel of clinical nutritionists exchanging active dialogues on a variety of lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, and insomnia.
#ASSOCHAM concluded the sixth edition of the #IllnessToWellness series themed ‘Lifestyle Behaviour During #COVID19’. The session saw active dialogue on a variety of lifestyle-related ailments like insomnia, obesity, diabetes & others.https://t.co/cxfngSwa38
— ASSOCHAM #WearAMask (@ASSOCHAM4India) September 16, 2020
“Obesity is a new disease that we need to fight. During this time, we have noticed the people who are obese, are the ones who are getting the severity of the COVID-19. The mortality rate is high only in these people. We need to understand that no longer can obesity be restricted to a cosmetic problem or something that has to do with your looks but to see it as a medical issue. The severity means they often end up in ventilators from which it is very difficult for them to recover, so it is high time we realize how important it is to be healthy. If you are healthy, your immunity is high so your incidence of any kind of infection would be much less. The public should consider obesity as a disease and take all precautions like dietary, lifestyle or medical management to control it,” said Ms. Ritika Samaddar, RD, Regional Head, Department of Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics, Max Super Speciality Hospital
She focussed on the physical activities more for leading a healthy lifestyle, like regularly exercising even in this pandemic and adding to that people need to get back to their physical activities as earlier along with these unlocking process going on, they should start walking, jogging, cycling, and running as this is going to be our new normal lives while the gyms might remain close for a longer period.
YOU MAY LIKE TO READ: Covid-19: Britain’s Anti-Obesity Campaign Causes Disquiet Among People Recovering From Eating Disorders
While Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM CSR Council mentioning about the balance of our lifestyle with the right food and exercise, said, “Lifestyle behavior plays an extremely important role even if we discuss it without the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything in life depends on balance and consistency, therefore, the right balance of regular exercise, be it yoga, running or cycling, eating a nutritious diet, one that provides basic vitamins and minerals and having multivitamins along with mental relaxation can go a long way in warding off many diseases.”
“The obese people have 70% higher chances of contracting viral diseases and suffering from severe symptoms of COVID-19,” said, Ms. Ishi Khosla, Clinical Nutritionist, Centre For Dietary Counselling. Our emerging lifestyle diseases that are being triggered by COVID-19 like insomnia, adverse eating habits caused due to ungainly work hours, and excessive screen time is what she pointed out further.
So, the focus should be on getting the right food and exercise and more emphasis should be put on the need of pause on longer screen time and chair time because Obesity has become a new disease that needs to be taken very seriously as it is resulting a lot of inactive lifestyles created in the COVID-19.
Few tips on working from home which requires a long screen and chair time can be balanced by-
- We need to keep moving so there should not be more than an hour of constant sitting.
- 10-15 mins of walking or strolling are important in the middle of the work or after having a long chair time.
- Sitting can lead to inflammation. The same goes for screen times. There has to be a pause button.
Ms. Khosla, speaking on how much magnesium is important in our diet for especially people suffering from insomnia said, “People who are generally healthy are complaining of not being able to sleep. Anxiety and the fear of uncertainty are there for all of us. There are two parts to tackling it, one is diet and the other is lifestyle interventions. For diets, eat food that is easy to digest. When your digestion is good, your body begins to relax and can focus on other functions. In order to calm your nervous system, specific vitamins and minerals are there that are mostly ignored. Magnesium is an under-diagnosed deficiency. As a supplement, it can do a lot of good work for people with anxiety and sleep disorders. It can play several roles like cholesterol, diabetes, and sleep management.”
However, for healthy people, it is always suggested for having more natural resources like herbs, veggies, and fruits. And both experts have said that we should not blindly go for the artificial supplements until they are contracted to COVID-19.
A Certified Yoga & Wellness Trainer & Art of Living, Ms. Manjusha Adlakha, exemplified the event by placing a variety of issues about different age groups and lifestyles before the expert panelists and making the programme an extremely knowledge-gaining and insightful one.