April 7, 2002	Sunday	Muharram 23, 1423

ISLAMABAD, April 6: Pakistan which ranked nowhere in 1995 among the top 10 countries where diabetes was common has now attained the top position first in the list with 15 million diabetic patients.

This was disclosed by Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Pakistan during an interactive media workshop held three days ahead of the World Health Day.

The workshop was organized by the WHO in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) here on Thursday.

The theme for this year’s Day, which is falling on April 7 is “Move for Health,” which was specifically selected to emphasize the importance of fitness and a healthy lifestyle in Pakistan, the workshop was told.

It was also deplored during the workshop that the physical education was considered least important in our schools besides very few research were available in Pakistan to highlight the importance of physical exercise.

It was suggested that schools should promote practical and not theoretical principles of physical activity.

The meeting was also told that different provinces lack proper strategies on physical education and were in the process of planning such strategies.

Dr Bile who opened the workshop said that the non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cardio vascular (CVD), chronic liver diseases, hypertension, heart attacks, stroke and heart failure were on the rise infact the heart diseases have been projects as the number one disease in the year 2025 and it was estimated that 50 million people would die of heart diseases.

“The answer to protect from these fatal diseases is not to have treatment, rather to adopt preventive measures through exercise and movement,” Dr Bile stressed.

The sedentary lifestyle, Dr Bile observed, was a major underlying cause of death, disease and disability. About 2 million deaths every year were attributable to physical inactivity.

A WHO study on risk factors suggested that sedentary lifestyles was one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world. The inactivity also increases the risk of colon and breast cancer, high blood pressure, lipid disorders, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety.

Recent studies have shown that children around the world are also becoming increasingly sedentary-especially in poor urban areas. Time and resources devoted to physical education are being cut and computer games and televisions are replacing physically active pastime ignoring the fact that the inadequate physical activity in children could have lifelong health consequence.

Regular physical activity or exercise with good eating habits, avoiding smoking, monitoring a reasonable body weight and avoiding stress could improve one’s health and help prevent from many diseases.

He said that the number of adult diabetes in the developing countries would grow by 170 per cent as during 1995, only 84 million people were suffering with the diabetes but t