Dr.Jaya Pradhan

Foods are an indispensable item for human beings. One cannot survive without foods, which is essential not only for physical growth but also for keeping several diseases at bay. Foods provide calories as well as nutrition helping a person to grow strong physically and remain healthy. Unhealthy eating is considered a culprit in leading a person to a disease.
Diabetes which is spreading quite rapidly in urban areas of our country is regarded a disease which is caused mostly by unhealthy eating habits coupled with sedentary lifestyle.
The Nepali urbanites over the years have grown a habit of eating modern junk foods by giving up healthy traditional Nepali foods. Many youngsters these days love to eat foods that are packed with high calories but deficient on nutritious ingredients. These junk items such as noodles, pizzas, momo, soft drinks, packeted chips and other items can invite not only disorders in body immediately after eating them but also have a long-term impact on one’s health because these foods are also high with fat, carbohydrates and sodium but less dense with nutrients.
If a same person who is high on junk foods and lives a sedentary life-style, then he is the likely victim of diabetes. Once he is afflicted by the disease, other health related problems start following him soon. Diabetes not only prohibits him on eating foods of his liking but threatens him/her with many other diseases. A diabetic, in case he/she fails to keep her blood glucose under tight control, often develops diseases of hearts, kidneys, eyes, feet gums and many other body parts. Neuropathy, retinopathy and renal problems are common to a diabetic, who needs to monitor his foods every time and to engage in physical exercises to keep his blood sugar level under required level so as not to invite diseases. These days the habit of eating junk foods among the Nepalese has not been limited to urban and city areas, it has now reached many remote villages. Many villagers can be seen eating junk foods like noodles, biscuits, soft drinks and many other items, putting them at risk of getting many diseases like the city and urban dwellers
For a diabetic, nutritious foods having required protein and fibre level but low on fats and carbohydrates, are a must. A person suffering with diabetes must opt for foods that are nutritious and balanced that would help keep blood glucose at an ideal level as well help him get all necessary ingredients for his body. A diabetic should always monitor the calorie level in foods that must have required level of nutrients.

A strong craving to eat foods which a diabetic likes may always prove disastrous. Such foods may pack high calories in the body which always lead to a high rise in glucose level that may well result in many other problems. Any intake of calories for a diabetic should be based on their body weight, generally referred as body mass index (BMI). For example, a diabetic should take 20-25 calories per kilogram of his/her total body weight. A healthy male requires 2223 calorie while a healthy female needs 1900 calories per day.
A person with sedentary life style burns only 1.2 calories per minute, so he may require less calories as compared to healthy and physically active person.
One should remember that the traditional Nepali foods that include required level of rice, lentils, legumes, vegetables, pickles, wheat flour, millets, fresh fruits such as oranges, sweet limes, apples can do wonders for a person in keeping disease at bay and helping him/her grow healthily.

A National Health Problem
Diabetes and other diseases that have direct bearing on the lack of nutritious balanced diet has these days taken the national health problems causing considerable impact on the government’s health budget.

The increase in the number of diabetes patients across the nation has also brought another trouble to the country: diabetes often afflict a person when she/he is economically on the most productive years of their age. As the diabetes can invite many other health disorders in a person, the disease really curtails her/his productivity.
It is now high time that the government should enact a strong policy on nutrition and balanced diet for each and every Nepali. The policy should target the people from the grassroots, at schools, colleges, community levels and throughout the nations. The government must hire experts who have wide learning and knowledge on nutritious and balanced foods required for infants, children, youngsters, adults as well as persons living with a disease like diabetes.
The government’s public health sector should put the nutrition and balanced diet on its top priority list. Both nutrition and balanced diet policy, if implemented from the grassroots level, can help government save a lot of budget which it spends on tackling many diseases in public health area.

Important Roles
Looking at the important roles nutritionists can play in tackling disease like diabetes and other public health problems, they should be given due roles and respects. The Department of Home Science which is currently being taught at the Tribhuwan University can be a place where the government can seek the required expertise on the nutrition and balanced diets for the Nepali people. Despite being an important faculty, the university and government authorities haven’t been forthcoming in giving due importance to this faculty. In India, the subject of Home Science is included in the science faculty while in Nepal it is a part of humanities and social science faculty.
The role of a nutritionist can also be utilised widely not only in the public health sector but also in hospitality, sports science, food technology, market monitoring and many other sectors. The role and reach of a nutritionist is wide and therefore the health ministry as well as the government’s concerned authority must lend high priority to utilise the expertise of a nutritionist like many of the developed nations across the globe do. (As told to Narayan Updhyay of this daily)

(A Ph.D. in 'Effectiveness of Structured Dietary Education in Newly Diagnosed Type 2
Diabetes' (Food and Nutrition) from Tribhuvan University, Dr. Pradhan is Associate Professor of Home Science (Food and Nutrition) at Padma Kanya Campus, Central Department of Home Science, where she has been associated for the past 27 years.)