KARACHI: Cardiologists at an awareness session Sunday urged people to beware of their truncal obesity, or their growing tummies due to lack of exercise and overeating.
They said truncal obesity or growing tummies was the root-cause and mother of all diseases including cardiovascular diseases and urged people to immediately adopt healthy lifestyle to prevent themselves from heart attacks and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
They deplored that children in Pakistan as young as five to ten years of age were developing tummies due to lack of sports facilities, use of modern gadgets and eating unhealthy, junk food.
They said such children and youngsters were more prone to developing cardiovascular disease and other lifestyle ailments including diabetes and high blood pressure, which also contribute to heart diseases.
They deplored that a large number of people including youngsters were in the habit of smoking and eating tobacco and warned that smokers and tobacco eaters were at a very high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
They said risk multiplied when youngsters lived a sedentary life and refrained from adopting heart-healthy practices.
The awareness session was organized by Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Memorial Society, Jang Group of News Papers in collaboration with a local pharmaceutical company.
It was addressed by Prof. Ejaz Vohra, Prof. Ishtiaq Rasool, Prof. Feroz Memon, Prof. Dr. Mansoor Ahmed, Dr. Fawad Farooq, Dr. Abdur Rasheed, Prof. Tariq Ashraf and Prof. Khalida Soomro, while Wasif Nagi, Chairman MKRMS, also spoke on the occasion.
Eminent physician Prof. Ejaz Vohra spoke on the importance of lifestyle changes to prevent cardiovascular diseases as well as other ailments, saying sedentary lifestyle was leading to diabetes and hypertension, which were two important risk factor for causing heart attacks.
He said lack of exercise and use of unhealthy diet were the most important reasons behind causing heart attacks.
He maintained that unhealthy style of living which included refraining from exercise and physical activity, using unhealthy and junk food were giving rise of obesity, diabetes and hypertension.
Dr. Fawad Farooq, who moderated the awareness session, spoke on the importance of daily exercise and said people need to understand that walking 150 minutes a week, 40 minutes of exercise was as important for them as eating or sleeping.
Dr. Mansoor Ahmed, a leading cardiologist, was of opinion that treatment of cardiovascular diseases was unaffordable for most of people in Pakistan and added that in these circumstances, the only option left for the poor segment of the society was to improve their health by living a healthy life which included doing regular exercise and eating heart-healthy food.
General Secretary Pakistan Cardiac Society Prof. Ishtiaq Rasool termed truncal obesity the mother of all diseases including cardiovascular disease and urged people to reduce their weight by walking as much as possible, and eating healthy food with less oil and more fibre including raw vegetables and fruits.
Renowned Cardiologist Prof. Feroz Memon said smoking, obesity, diabetes and hypertension were the leading cause of heart attacks in Pakistan, where people as young as 30 to 40 years of age were being taken to cardiac facilities for treatment of heart attack.
He urged the government and the private sector to come up with plans to reduce cardiovascular disease by promoting preventive measures.
Prof. Tariq Ashraf from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) said young people were acquiring cardiovascular disease due to their lazy lifestyle and added that they children and youngster were now being seen with tummies, which shows their unhealthy lifestyle and focus on eating junk food.
He urged people to avoid eating carbohydrate-rich diet as well as eating refined sugar and resort to physical activity to avoid having heart attacks at younger age.
Prof. Khalida Soomro deplored that women in Pakistan were not in the habit of doing exercise and walking and indulging in physical activities due to our cultural restrictions.
She said owing to these factors, women were equally prone to heart attacks despite having some hormonal protection, especially given to females by the nature.
She urged women to do some sort of physical activity at their homes including skipping rope and doing their household work regularly, using stairs instead of taking escalators and lifts.
