Ludhiana, May 2, 2013: Agricultural and economic progress in the last decade has made India self-sufficient in major food grains, yet simultaneous occurrence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition continues to be major nutritional problem, said Dean Academics, Professor of Gastroenterology and Secretary, Nutritional Society of India-Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina, who was invited to deliver a keynote address at a recently-held seminar on ‘Nutrition in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBM)’ at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
In his address, Dr. Chhina said Economic and Agricultural reforms have made India self-sufficient in major food grains. India has had a rapid economic growth in the last few decades and in the eyes of the world, an economic transition is occurring in India. Like China, India is also becoming tremendous advancement in its economic scenario but the economic advancement has still not translated our country’ nutritional status into Nutritional wellness or nutritional adequacy.
There has been a sustained decline in the per Capita Calorie Consumption during the last twenty five years. World Bank has predicted that coronary heart disease will become the leading cause of premature death in India by 2015 and by the year 2020, the maximum number of diabetic patients in the world will be in India. Till now, it was under-nutrition which was playing the dominant role in the nutritional scene in India but now, the problem of over-nourishment has arisen.
Unlike under-nutrition, these diseases are less likely to be associated with poverty. Presently,India is pasing through a transitional change, where inadequacy, lack of food is being replaced by plentiful food but reduced physical activity. Junk food, stress and modern technology has brought up in labour saving devices at an affordable cost and all this has lead to a steep decrease in energy expenditure. An increasingly sedentary population is beginning to see an emergence of “life style” diseases. Dr Chhina, further said that Nutrition plays a significant role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are often found to have nutrient deficiencies at the time of diagnosis, whereas others develop features of malnutrition over the course of their illness. Therefore, an understanding of the relationship between nutrients and inflammatory bowel disease is important if these patients are to receive optimal care. Food nutrition is a key element in maintaining our overall physical well being. We must always pay attention to the foods that we eat because they will eventually impact our health, for better or for worst, said Dr Chhina.