THE average lifespan of an individual in Pakistan is 66 years compared to 70 years in India and 77 years in the United States. While this may reflect the poor status of the national healthcare delivery system, there is no doubt that it also reflects on the poor eating choices of the nation. Our excessive consumption of meat and oil indicates why heart attack is such a common health issue in the country. We wake up to eat oily parathas, and then the whole day is spent keeping the pattern alive meal after meal, snack after snack, and bite after bite.

In fact, when trouble starts, we tend to opt for home remedies and desi totkas instead of getting proper diagnosis by seeking medical assistance. With this kind of attitude even the best healthcare delivery system in the world cannot increase the lifespan.

As such, a simple way to keep ourselves healthy is taking a balanced diet with proper carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and exercising regularly. But we hesitate to go to gym or even do basic exercises at home. The problem is worse for women in Pakistan for a variety of reasons.

Let us accept the simple fact that we, as a nation, are just too lazy to even care about our own health.

Once we accept that, there might emerge a day when we would want to do something about it. That, in fact, will lead to the day when we might actually do something.

Affan Khattak
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2024