Obesity in South Asia: It’s Time We Start Discussing

I live in Dhaka city and here, for most people, eating 3 decent meals a day is a big problem. Still, the number of overweight people is growing slowly but consistently. No, I cannot prove with any statistics about it as there is no concrete information available. Yet, among rich people, this problem is growing as you can easily find it if you go in the street of wealthy areas like Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Baridhara. Should we be concerned about this problem? Yes, we should because obesity is simply a drain in the economy for any country.

I could find some more information about Pakistan in this regard:  Obesity in Adolescents of Pakistan

In India, it is already a big problem and it will surely be a big threat for the economy within the next one decade. For the last 4 years, I have been living in the borders of obesity and I noticed that my productivity has decreased sharply. I am a person who likes to work hard. I do not mind to work at odd hours (like whole night). Still, I have been suffering personally. So, I can easily realize that even if just 5% of the population of South Asia get hit by obesity then it will be a disaster for the whole region.

The main problem that I can see is that still, most people do not think that it is a problem. In the media, there is no discussion about it. Even in the blogs, no body mentions about the problem. That is why, I am worried for this matter.

I personally believe that it is time we start discussing about obesity in South Asia.