‘Beat Diabetes’ and live a healthy, active lifestyle’

'Lifestyle presents Beat Diabetes' is a Landmark Group initiative to spread awareness about the condition and the causes leading to it. Renuka Jagtiani, Vice Chairperson Landmark Group, speaks about her organisation's role in educating people about this silent killer disease through innovative campaigns and health drives, in this chat with Leena Mudbidri

   Why did you choose the 'Beat Diabetes' campaign as part of your health initiative? 
    Landmark Group has a presence across the Middle East and India, and other countries in the sub-continent, all of which are culturally diverse. 
    However, we found that across these countries, the number of people suffering from diabetes is alarmingly high. As a retail and hospitality conglomerate, we felt that we have the ability to impact public awareness by leveraging our presence across malls and other public places. Hence, we decided to launch the 'Beat Diabetes' campaign which will enter its second edition in India this year. 
    What events and awareness campaigns have you lined up and what does the Landmark Group seek to achieve through these? 
    Awareness is the first step in the battle against diabetes, and that is what Landmark Group seeks to achieve. Today 50 percent of people suffering from Type 2 diabetes don't even know they have it. Through the annual walkathon, free blood glucose test and awareness drives we intend to educate people about diabetes, and how regular blood glucose testing and adopting a healthy active lifestyle can assist them in battling this condition. 
    How are you planning to sustain this health initiative over the months instead of restricting it to only one day? 
    We do various awareness activities and blood glucose testing year round to sustain ourhealth initiative. It all just cumulates with the walkathon in November across various countries since that is the World Diabetes Awareness Month with November 14 being World Diabetes Day. 
    What would you like to communicate to our readers? 
    Diabetes does not discriminate, once it was associated with the elderly but today increasingly, younger people are getting diagnosed with the condition and juvenile diabetes is on the rise. 
    Stress and sedentary lifestyle is the main cause for this epidemic and I would like to encourage people to take up any physical activity they enjoy - sports, dancing, yoga etc. it is fun and also helps tackle stress. The alarming rate at which diabetes is growing is a wake-up call to change our lifestyle and it is something we simply can't ignore.

Landmark group is Dubaibased retail & hospitality conglomerate which operates retail formats such as Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Spar, Bossini, Splash and Gloria Jean's Coffees in India.

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Warning signs of Type 2 diabetes

   According to the Diabetes Association of India, almost 98 percent of all diabetes cases belong to the Type 2 category or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus - in other words the diabetes one gets with poor lifestyle choices. Usually occurring in adults over 30 and overweight, type 2 Diabetes can be controlled through weight loss, diet and exercise. Let's take a look at some of the vital warning signs for Type 2 Diabetes. 

Excessive thirst: If you find yourself drinking more water than usual, and still feel that you just can't get enough, it could be an indication of Type 2 Diabetes. This is because due to the excess of glucose in your blood, your kidneys have to work harder to absorb the additional sugar. However, some of the sugar still remains unabsorbed which is then excreted along with body fluids. This is the main reason why a diabetic patient feels dehydrated all the time. 
Sudden weight loss: Unexplained loss of weight is primarily due to the loss of body sugar. You may feel happy that you have suddenly acquired a slim figure, but do not allow this to divert your mind. Always remember that although overweight and obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, it can eventually lead to sudden loss of body mass. 
Blurring: Type 2 diabetes may also lead to blurred vision and you may often face difficulty in focusing. This is primarily due to the fact that a portion of the fluids excreted from the body gets drawn by the eyes. If left untreated, it can even lead to complete or partial blindness. 
Fatigue and weakness: The loss of water and glucose from the body is the main reason why a diabetic patient always experiences a sense of fatigue and overall weakness. The cells of the body utilize glucose from the foods to produce energy to sustain. The cells sans the glucose are starved and run down. 
Headache: Another major sign of type 2 diabetes is constant headaches. This is due to the combined effect of dehydration, malaise and unexplained weight loss. 
Dry mouth: One of the most common oral health problems for diabetics is dry mouth or altered salivary flow. Most of us are not aware of the fact that our oral health affects our control of diabetes and that our diabetes control alters our oral hygiene. However, it is seen that in majority of the cases, dry mouth occurs due to medications. 
Frequent slow-healing infections: 
Many renowned physicians across the globe claim that diabetics have frequent infections that are slow-healing in nature. They believe that the condition weakens a person's immune response thereby making it a favorable ground for infections to occur. Some of the most frequently seen infections seen in women are bladder and vaginal infections.

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World Diabetes Day is United Nations World Day

 World Diabetes Day takes place on 14 November every year and is an official United Nations World Day. The date was chosen because it marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, who, along with Charles Best, is credited with the discovery of insulin. While many events take place on or around the day itself, a themed campaign runs throughout the year. 

    World Diabetes Day was introduced by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1991, in response to concern over the escalating incidence of diabetes around the world. Since then, the event has grown in popularity every year. 
A UN World Day 
    World Diabetes Day is now an official United Nations World Day. On 20 December 2006, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 61/225, which designated the existing World Diabetes Day as an official world day beginning in 2007. This landmark resolution also recognized diabetes as "a chronic, debilitating and costly disease associated with major complications that pose severe risks for families, countries and the entire world." 
Celebrated worldwide 
    World Diabetes Day is celebrated worldwide. It brings together millions of people in over 160 countries to raise awareness of diabetes, including children and adults affected by diabetes, healthcare professionals, healthcare decision-makers and the media. Numerous local and national events are organized by the member associations of the International Diabetes Federation and by other diabetes representative organizations, healthcare professionals, healthcare authorities, and individuals who want to make a difference. World Diabetes Day unites the global diabetes community to produce a powerful voice for diabetes awareness.

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Processed food later triggers obesity, diabetes

Mumbai: The changing snacking trends among urban kids can lead to chronic health problems later in life, say doctors. Besides obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which may stem from prolonged intake of packaged or junk food, children may also suffer from certain kinds of cancer, if not careful. 

    Nutritionists say packaged snacks do not have the same nutrition value of a freshly prepared meal. In fact, prolonged consumption of certain components in these foods, coupled with physical inactivity, can cause obesity among children and teenagers. "Urban children have developed a taste for maida. Everything—from instant noodles, to pasta and even bread—includes maida. These give instant calories and energy as maida gets absorbed fast. But there is no satiety value," said Vibha Kapadia, a nutritionist. A child is thus never satisfied after eating large quantities of these foods and still feels hungry, she said. 
    Since children tend to play and thus have physical exercise, the instant foods do not show their effect immediately. However, in the teenage years the obesity starts showing. "Though these foods appeal to children, they are high on fat and salts. The biggest problem is they lack fibre and are high on glycemic index. Continuous consumption of such foods coupled with lack of physical activity causes obesity especially in teenagers," said Dr Shilpa Joshi, from the Indian Dietician Association. 
    City doctors fear an addiction to junk and instant food can cause major health crises later. "The habit of cooking and eating instant food is a lifestyle problem in itself. One or two packets in a month is a different matter, but if children are given instant food every other day due to lack of time to prepare a fresh meal, then mothers are playing with their child'shealth themselves," said Dr Hemant Thacker, physician with Jaslok and Breach Candy Hospitals. 
    Head of Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr Rajan Badwe says an unhealthy diet is a major contributor to cancer among those with sustained obesity. "Adolescent obesity is known to produce diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers like those of breast, ovary and uterus in women and stomach, kidney and colon in men in later years," he said. Parents need to be role models for kids and keep a watch on what they eat and how much, say doctors. "Until the age of fivesix, till a child is exposed to media, birthday parties and peers, he/she eats whatever the parents eat. If parents don't eat 
    much junk food, the child will not have a habit of eating them," said Sonal Modi, nutritionist with DENMARC. "Restrictions don't help with older children. Instead, whatever the child eats outside, make it yourself (not with the help of packets) at home with slight modifications to make it more nutritious," she added.

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