Hyderabad: Malnourishment higher in cities than rural areas says Karuna Gopal

Hyderabad: Futuristic Cities, BJP National In-charge, Policy and Research, women wing president Karuna Gopal on Wednesday said that malnourishment was higher in cities than in rural areas, which means citizens are 'overfed but malnourished'.

Gopal, along with entrepreneur and sports influencer Uday Waghray, organised a round table discussion on 'Cities and Nutrition'. The virtual Zoom session was attended by eminent professionals, doctors, nutritionists, technologists, industry leaders and academicians.

She said that in economically thriving cities, the rich were choosing wrong foods, moving away from traditional to exotic and junk varieties. "In fact, the worst nightmare is seen in slums where 'breast-feeding has dramatically come down because women in slums think it is not 'fashionable' to breastfeed or worse still 'silly' as milk powder is just a-hop-skip-n jump away in neighbourhood medical store! In slums their choices are alarming," said Gopal.

She said women in slums were choosing polished rice over traditional millets. "They are eating chips and popcorn, more than peanuts, and prefer Maggi noodles to upma or idli".

Waghray pointed out that today's generation was all about being cool and updated, with unhealthy fads, including the idea of an inspirational body which is being created within months in gyms. The worst hit were the gym-going youth who stuff their bodies with steroids and hormonal cycles, grossly compromising on mental as well as physical wellbeing. This in turn was being promoted heavily by the media, films and companies, who manufacture these supplements.

Eating healthy, home- cooked food is considered passé. "We must create a wave of healthy and wholesome eating habits and make sports a compulsory discipline to be treated on par with other subjects in schools; to build character and inculcate life lessons at that formative age," said Waghray.

Educationist Anjana Krishnamurthy, psychotherapist Vasuprada Kartic, laparoscopic surgeon Surendra Ugale and others attended.