Indians, Inactivity, and Indifference
What is that one stark difference you see in your life in the last couple of decades? One thing that stands out is the Indian living room. Today, the sofa is omnipresent, and with it, has crawled in the habit of sitting. This article explores inactivity among Indians, its repercussions, and the way ahead.
What has changed?
- The work culture
India was an agrarian economy, most of us practised primary jobs which came with a lot of physical work. That kept our metabolism going. Today, most of us are working on a chair with fingers running on keyboard being the only exercise we do through the day.
- The technology
Those days, we walked to the general store. Today, we have food delivery apps, household chore apps, and whatnot. Move over this, we don’t even need to get up to switch off the fan or stop the washing machine. We can’t blame the innovation, but the way we handled it has become a problem for us.
- Development, in general
Having a car was a luxury in the 90s. Today it is a necessity. People have forgotten to walk a mile. This habit of not walking makes you lazy, and reduces metabolism. Our body forgets that it can do much more than it is. As a result, we start accumulating fat and make ourselves prone to diseases like diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension.
- Getting influenced by the west, but partly
While India is still known as a developing nation, it has been behind a lot of developing nations, and hasn’t quite managed the transition successfully. For example, we have started eating a lot of western food like breads, and other carb based foods. However, we haven’t picked up their other habits like a compulsory health test every six months or a mandatory health insurance in addition to regular gymming. We once were the yoga country but now, westerners have adapted yoga from us in a quest to get healthy.
- Ignorance
We Indians live with a procrastinating attitude, unlike other countries where proactivity is encouraged and imbibed. We do not go to the hospital until the third day of fever and prefer popping a paracetamol instead. This has not only landed us in a state of concern but has also increased the average expenditure on cure which might have been prevented.
Sitting is the new smoking.
Numbers have shown, that Indians are becoming couch potatoes and India is getting unhealthy. The rate with which diabetes, heart diseases, lung cancer, hypertension have risen in the last 2 decades, is alarming. Various health programmes and events by the government as well as private institutions should act as catalysts in spreading awareness about the value of health among Indians. And hopefully, make activity a way of life!
