Government Medical College Srinagar is conducting a study to assess junk food pattern of Srinagarities.
“Over past several years, there is considerable increase in consumption of junk food, fast food and foods high in fat, salt and sugar leads to increasing prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other life style diseases. In this regard, the department of community medicine,” Dr S Muhammad Salim Khan, head of department, community medicine (SPM) GMC said in a statement.
He said, ” The GMC Srinagar has started conducting community based study to collect evidence from people living in the city on the consumption of high fat, salt and sugar foods and their impact on the burden of non-communicable diseases and also to identify priority areas of research relating to consumption of HFSS foods and Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs), and to assess effectiveness of strategies for reducing their consumption.”
He said the 15-month study is a part of multi-centre task force study of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which shall be carried among 4000 households in Srinagar city. “The study shall assess the nutrition status of the selected population by anthropometry (height, weight, waist and hip circumference) and also shall measure the blood pressure and assess biochemical profile on a sub sample of the screened population (random blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol),” he said.
“Further it will analyze the selected food and food products, items from each site for salt, sugar and fats including trans fats. On its sideline, the research staff will disseminate the information about harmful effects of foods and food products/items rich in fat, salt and sugar and importance of physical activity,” said Dr Salim.