We eat too much. At home. At parties. At social gatherings. At office. At office gatherings. In public. On the beach. In a park. While we travel.
Pretty much every opportunity we get to stuff our faces. We take it.
And then we wax eloquent about our relationship with food, stress eating etc without actually doing a single thing to understand how much we need to be eating to be strong and healthy.
As waistlines bulge, sugar levels rise, incidence of lifestyle disorders increases, activity levels plummet, the nation’s preeminent medical body had an opportunity to tell the nation, ‘we are eating too much.’ Instead ICMR decided to throw fried snacks under the bus.
Fried snacks are part of the problem. They are easy to overeat and more calorie-dense than most foods.
But our daily behaviour with relatively less processed foods is just as problematic. There’s tea/coffee with sugar, mounds and multiple courses of rice, rotis, potatoes, ghee/oil-laden dosas/parathas/parotas, cream-laden gravies, sweetened dairy, overcooked vegetables, fruit juices, ice creams, desserts, chocolate, candy bars, sweets and savouries.
We are getting fat by eating too much of all foods. Portion control and awareness of what food contains is the need of the hour.
But then again this isn’t the first time the ICMR is gaslighting the public. So I guess we ought to know better too.
Takeaway
What is lacking is any widespread degree of aspiration for a higher quality of life. Personal responsibility takes a backseat to systemic failures and cultural baggage when it comes to our personal health.
Pretty much every opportunity we get to stuff our faces. We take it.
And then we wax eloquent about our relationship with food, stress eating etc without actually doing a single thing to understand how much we need to be eating to be strong and healthy.
As waistlines bulge, sugar levels rise, incidence of lifestyle disorders increases, activity levels plummet, the nation’s preeminent medical body had an opportunity to tell the nation, ‘we are eating too much.’ Instead ICMR decided to throw fried snacks under the bus.
Fried snacks are part of the problem. They are easy to overeat and more calorie-dense than most foods.
But our daily behaviour with relatively less processed foods is just as problematic. There’s tea/coffee with sugar, mounds and multiple courses of rice, rotis, potatoes, ghee/oil-laden dosas/parathas/parotas, cream-laden gravies, sweetened dairy, overcooked vegetables, fruit juices, ice creams, desserts, chocolate, candy bars, sweets and savouries.
We are getting fat by eating too much of all foods. Portion control and awareness of what food contains is the need of the hour.
But then again this isn’t the first time the ICMR is gaslighting the public. So I guess we ought to know better too.
Takeaway
What is lacking is any widespread degree of aspiration for a higher quality of life. Personal responsibility takes a backseat to systemic failures and cultural baggage when it comes to our personal health.