Effects of lifestyle Changes on Health by Sumita Dass

In past few decades we have witnessed a rapid transformation in the lifestyle particularly those living in urban India. The way we eat, perform exercise, take rest, play, behave with others, think, plan, drive a vehicle, sleep, carry out our routine work and commitments and the total living style etc. are all included in the term ‘lifestyle’. It is true that our routine work and day today depends on various environmental factors such as social, political, economical, ecological, family background. Life style changes have a major impact on the health.

Economic growth, modernization, urbanization & socialization have changed the life style of families. With a shift in eating habits & the adoption of a sedentary life style has resulted in rapid escalation of lifestyle diseases with alarming projection by WHO that by 2020, seven million Indians may die of lifestyle diseases. Elimination of these risk factors can prevent—Diabetes, stroke, heart disease by 80% and cancer by 40%.

Effect of improper lifestyle – Stress

The word “improper lifestyle” indicates irregularity in all the components of the lifestyle, particularly the food habits (junk food consumption), insufficient sleep or rest and hyper-reactivity to every stimulus as well as poor interpersonal relationship and no control on emotions. Luxurious lifestyle increases laziness, lack of exercise on one hand and occupational hazards due to tight schedule and mental pressure on the other.

The transition from a traditional to modern lifestyle, consumption of diets rich in fat and calories combined with a high level of mental stress has compounded the problem further. With a shift in eating habits & the adoption of a sedentary life style has lead to the increasing prevalence of life style diseases like Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension, Coronary heart disease, Metabolic syndrome and Cancer, all across India

Changing Scenario ……Environmental Changes Affect Health

Most of the changes in the environment over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities”. These changes have led to the emergence of large-scale environmental hazards to human health these climatic changes have wide-ranging harmful effects including increase in heat-related mortality, dehydration, and spread of infectious diseases. Higher exposure to ultra violet rays of the sun, leads to an increase in the incidents of skin cancer in people. It also lead to an increase in the number of people suffering from eye diseases such as cataract. It is also thought to cause suppression of the immune system.

Changing the lifestyle

Our own faulty lifestyle is responsible for diseased condition, unhappiness and stress. The best way is to correct our lifestyle. However, it is not that easy to adapt totally different lifestyle from the next day but once you decide to follow proper lifestyle pattern, the following guidelines will help you to make necessary changes in your present lifestyle.

• Learn to calm down yourself. Remain peaceful in your mind so that it is easy to control your emotions, thoughts and actions.
• The circadian rhythms like dark and light, sunrise and sunset always influence our sleep pattern and arousal, hunger. Setting a body clock is very important.
• Plan your timings for work, meals, rest, and recreation and sleep as they can influence each other. Do not forget the word ‘ytikta’ which means proportionate or moderate quantity as a ‘measure’ for all the activities.
• Growth in working population and prevalence of nuclear families with double income are other trends causing this change in the lifestyle. Assess your own diet. It should be well balanced from nutrition and quantity point of view. Avoid processed and fast foods

It’s time to act now to adopt a healthy life style in the families by healthy diet, regular exercise, no tobacco and stress control and say no to drugs. 30 minutes morning walk would improve your stamina and would keep you cheerful and fresh through the day. It will also regulate the level of cholesterol in the blood.

An educationist and mentor in multicultural professional setting in UK and India for the past 20 years. Sumita Dass is an alumni of Convent of Jesus and Mary and a post graduate in Education, along with M.Sc. Leadership and Management from Sheffield Hallam University UK  on the  Professional Development Program for Leaders. She has a vast experience in planning, recruitment, developing performance management system, developing welfare programs, identifying training needs and conducting trainings.

Have reputable experience in South Yorkshire UK as coordinator for UN funded programmes and campaigns for Sheffield Council UK for Children & Young People’s Inclusion and Learning Services/EMTAS Gateway Refugee Resettlement Programme as Coordinator. Organize and lead seminars for women & youth development and health awareness campaign.

Sumita Dass

Founder & President Life of Vision Foundation

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