{"id":266392,"date":"2023-10-26T19:39:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T14:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=266392"},"modified":"2023-10-27T08:40:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T03:10:38","slug":"urban-health-in-india-unhealthy-urban-india-must-get-into-street-fight-mode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/urban-health-in-india-unhealthy-urban-india-must-get-into-street-fight-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban health in India – Unhealthy urban India must get into street fight mode"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post on Urban health in India<\/strong> is based on the article\u00a0\u201cUnhealthy urban India must get into street fight mode<\/strong>\u201d published in The Hindu <\/strong>on 26th<\/sup> October 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Social issues \u2013 Issues Related to Health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Relevance: <\/strong>Health related concerns with urban Indians<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> India’s urban population is expected to become the second largest in the world by 2035. <\/strong>However, despite their role in driving economic growth, most Indian cities are struggling to meet healthcare, environmental, and equity goals for their residents.<\/p>\n

What are the concerns associated with Urban health in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Urban residents in India face a variety of health risks, including air and noise pollution, limited green space, lack of sidewalks and parks, outdated transportation, unhealthy food, and significant exposure to toxic substances.<\/p>\n

These factors, especially when combined with a lack of physical activity, increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, also known as cardiometabolic diseases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In India, <\/strong>20% of the population is inactive, 37% are only mildly active, which means that a total of 57% of the surveyed population does not meet the physical activity guidelines set by the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n

Hence, physical activity becomes necessary to mitigate the problems of cardiometabolic diseases.<\/p>\n

What factors contribute to the rising health risks in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dysfunctional Provisioning Systems:<\/strong> Globally, seven key provisioning systems: food, energy, transportation, housing, green infrastructure, water, and waste management, are fundamental to human health, well-being, equity, and sustainability.<\/p>\n

However, these systems are often dysfunctional and contribute to environmental degradation and health disparities.<\/p>\n

Colonial Origins:<\/strong> Urban provisioning systems in India are often rooted in colonial legacies. These systems both reflect and worsen social inequalities in cities, resulting in significant disparities in health risks and outcomes.<\/p>\n

Hence, a new approach that aligns with<\/strong> global frameworks like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda, and the Health in All Policies approach is needed.<\/p>\n

Stagnant Health Infrastructure:<\/strong> Investments in clean energy and electric transport in India offer an opportunity to reduce air pollution and advance climate and equity goals.<\/p>\n

However, their potential impact on health may be limited without changes in other systems like food, transportation, and green infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Studies have also shown that even small changes to urban planning can have a big impact on health and productivity. For example,<\/strong> creating safe walking and biking lanes can improve physical activity and reduce air pollution.<\/p>\n

Long Working Hours:<\/strong> A majority of urban Indians work long hours, often in sedentary jobs. This leaves them with little time and energy for exercise.<\/p>\n

High Stress:<\/strong> The high levels of stress that many Indians experience make it difficult to motivate themselves to exercise.<\/p>\n

Lack of Awareness: <\/strong>The lack of awareness of the benefits of physical activity is another factor that contributes to the lack of regular exercise in Indian urban cities.<\/p>\n

Many people are not aware of the link between physical inactivity and chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.<\/p>\n

How can the issues related to urban health in India can be addressed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Regular Physical Exercise:<\/strong> Regular physical exercise is an effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease and other cardiometabolic diseases.<\/p>\n

Further, electrifying transportation alone would not be enough as studies have shown that increasing physical activity is much better for health.<\/p>\n

Investing in Footpaths:<\/strong> Investing in active transportation, like walking and biking paths, can also provide added health and economic advantages.<\/p>\n

Comprehensive Policies:<\/strong> Encouraging healthy diets along with promoting active transportation should be integral components of comprehensive policies, benefiting both public health and economic productivity.<\/p>\n

Increasing Awareness: <\/strong>It is necessary to increase awareness of the benefits of physical activity and to promote healthy lifestyles through public education campaigns.<\/p>\n

What lies ahead?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Unhealthy diets, reduced physical activity, and urban air pollution in India pose greater health risks than drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. Hence, India needs to tackle these issues urgently.<\/p>\n

Question for practice:<\/strong> Despite playing a role in driving economic growth, Indian urban population faces significant health risks. Discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post on Urban health in India is based on the article\u00a0\u201cUnhealthy urban India must get into street fight mode\u201d published in The Hindu on 26th October 2023. UPSC Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Social issues \u2013 Issues Related to Health Relevance: Health related concerns with urban Indians News: India’s urban population is expected to… Continue reading Urban health in India – Unhealthy urban India must get into street fight mode<\/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":[212,8131,10498],"class_list":["post-266392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-social-issues","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":74,"cached_at":1698385430,"cached_date":1698660092},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266392","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=266392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}