{"id":263131,"date":"2023-10-06T20:18:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=263131"},"modified":"2023-10-06T20:52:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T15:22:01","slug":"defusing-the-ticking-time-bomb-called-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/defusing-the-ticking-time-bomb-called-diabetes\/","title":{"rendered":"Defusing the ticking time bomb called diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source:<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cDefusing the ticking time bomb called diabetes<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 6th October 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus:<\/strong> GS2- Governance- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health,<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> The article discusses the rising issue of diabetes and obesity in India, linked to the high consumption of unhealthy ultra-processed foods. It highlights the food industry’s aggressive marketing in India and suggests that strict government regulations and policies are needed to control and reduce the public health crisis.<\/p>\n

What is the current situation of diabetes and obesity in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As of June 2023, a notable study points out a health concern in India related to diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n

The study reveals that 11.4% of the population, which is 10.13 crore people, are living with diabetes.<\/p>\n

Additionally, 15.3% of Indians, or 13.6 crore people, are pre-diabetic, showing a potential risk of developing diabetes.<\/p>\n

The obesity issue is also notable with 28.6% of the population being classified as obese according to Body Mass Index (BMI) measures.<\/p>\n

What are the reasons for high diabetes rates in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ultra-Processed Food Consumption:<\/strong> Many Indians are consuming unhealthy ultra-processed foods, such as chips, instant noodles, and carbonated drinks. These foods often replace traditional diets.<\/p>\n

Dietary Impact:<\/strong> A daily increase of 10% in ultra-processed food consumption is linked to a 15% higher risk of type-2 diabetes among adults.<\/p>\n

Food Industry’s Role:<\/strong> The food industry in India heavily promotes unhealthy foods. They spend billions on marketing, targeting especially the young and middle class.<\/p>\n

Influential Marketing:<\/strong> Tactics include using cartoon characters, celebrity endorsements, and incentives to attract consumers, especially children.<\/p>\n

Lack of Effective Regulations: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India hasn’t effectively addressed the crisis. There’s an absence of strong front-of-package labelling to warn consumers about unhealthy products.<\/p>\n

Industry Resistance:<\/strong> The food industry opposes restrictions on marketing and often engages in partnerships that might not prioritize public health.<\/p>\n

What should be done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Implementing Regulatory Policies:<\/strong> Government should create legal frameworks or ordinances to reduce ultra-processed food consumption, similar to actions taken by South Africa, Norway, and Mexico.<\/p>\n

Defining Healthy Food:<\/strong> Laws or guidelines should clearly define ‘healthy food’ to inform consumer choices.<\/p>\n

Warning Labels:<\/strong> Implementing warning labels on unhealthy food and beverages can inform people about the risks of consuming such items.<\/p>\n

Restricting Marketing:<\/strong> Placing restrictions on how unhealthy foods and beverages are marketed, especially to vulnerable populations like children, can control consumption.<\/p>\n

Avoiding Industry Influence:<\/strong> Government policies and actions should be devoid of food industry influence to avoid conflict of interest and ensure public health is prioritized.<\/p>\n

Promoting Public Awareness:<\/strong> There must be campaigns to inform people about the dangers of consuming ultra-processed foods, leveraging data such as the 15% higher risk of diabetes associated with a 10% daily increase in their consumption.<\/p>\n

Following Proven Examples<\/strong>: Adapting measures from other countries, like the Infant Milk Substitutes Act which successfully regulated commercial baby food, can offer a guideline for regulating unhealthy foods and beverages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article \u201cDefusing the ticking time bomb called diabetes\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 6th October 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Governance- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health, News: The article discusses the rising issue of diabetes and obesity in India, linked to the high… Continue reading Defusing the ticking time bomb called diabetes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[300,212,10498],"class_list":["post-263131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":8,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698405463},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}