Leading causes of lifestyle disorders

New Delhi: Lifestyle disorders are a major cause of death in almost every country now. The occurrence of these problems is not a one-day process; people suffer due to long-time ignorance of their health care. Some of the lifestyle disorders are obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, strokes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), arthritis, and mental health issues.

Himanshu Rai, Chief Dietician and Nutritionist at Think You shares some of the leading causes of lifestyle disorders:

If your eating habits are linked to skipping meals, overeating, oily-fried-sugary meals, then you could be in the trap of lifestyle disorders. As per the WHO, “A healthy diet helps to protect against poor nutrition in all its forms and lifestyle-related health issues such as diabetes, heart diseases, strokes, cancers and brain disorders also.” Eating healthy meals, not skipping meals and food that contains ingredients from all the major food groups (cereals, legumes and pulses, milk and meat, fruits and vegetables, fat and sugar) would be helpful to protect you from lifestyle disorders.

Lack of physical activity may lead to obesity or being overweight and it may lead to several other disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and various others. The WHO suggests regular physical activity is very helpful for the prevention of diseases and improves the overall quality of life. As per WHO, adults should do 150 – 300 minutes of moderate-to-intense physical activity every week to provide significant benefits to overall health.

According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), poor sleep has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression and obesity. In the case of diabetes, it has been linked to poor control of blood sugar levels. Whereas, in cardiovascular diseases, persons with poor sleeping are found to be at increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, coronary heart diseases and irregular heartbeats. In obesity, short sleep duration results in metabolic changes, which are linked to obesity. Sleep disturbances for a long time have been one of the important symptoms of depression also.

As per Mayo Clinic, long-term stress puts the body on over-exposure to cortisol hormone and other stress hormones, which affects your body’s normal health process. Overexposure to stress results in heart diseases, weight gain, depression, anxiety, digestive problems, sleep issues, headaches and memory issues. Stress management is very important to keep away from the different health issues.

Smoking affects almost all the organs in a bad manner. Direct smoking may lead to different serious health concerns such as cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, lung disease, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), etc. Whereas second-hand smoke causes stroke, coronary heart diseases, lung cancer, etc in adults. In children, second-hand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth.

Excess alcohol drinking in the long term may lead to chronic diseases such as heart diseases, stroke, liver diseases, cancer, mental issues, digestive issues and several others. Whereas in short term, it causes accidents, violence, alcohol poisoning, risky sexual behaviours, miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women.

Mahatma Gandhi once wrote, “Instead of using the body as a temple of God we use it as a vehicle for indulgences, and are not ashamed to run to medical men for help in our effort to increase them and abuse the earthly tabernacle.”

This statement is well connected to today’s lifestyle disorders also; it means we are neglecting the power of prevention, doing excess and inviting lifestyle disorders.

Lifestyle disorders can be easily prevented with the help of eating nutritious meals on time, proper physical activity, proper sleep, stress management and avoiding alcohol and smoke.