Q1.
What do the news clippings on the notice board tell you about people’s health in our country?
Answer
Read together, the clippings say that the biggest health problems in India today are not infections but the way we live and the surroundings we live in.
| What the clippings report | What it tells us |
|---|---|
| 11.4% of India’s population is diabetic; more than 100 million Indians are diabetic (ICMR); 28.6% Indians are obese; diabetes and heart attack are more prevalent in people of South-east Asia (WHO) | Non-communicable, lifestyle-linked diseases are now very widespread |
| Fast food is one of the leading causes of diabetics; diet mantra — reduce the amount of oil and sugar in diet | What we eat is directly linked to these diseases |
| Increase in screen time in children leads to a rise in obesity, sleep disorders and anxiety; excessive screen watching leads to dry eye disease in children | Habits, not germs, are harming children |
| Immersion into social media is spurring rise in loneliness | Mental and social well-being are part of health |
| Air pollution is a public health emergency; air pollution is one of the leading risk factors for health | The environment decides health too |
| Arrival of monsoon leads to increase in malaria and dengue cases | Communicable diseases have not disappeared — they are seasonal |
| Regular handwashing reduces infection by 50%; yoga reduces anxiety and increases concentration; FIT INDIA MOVEMENT; reduce oil in diet by 10% | Much of this is preventable by simple, everyday habits |
Why it matters: notice that the clippings cover the body (diabetes, obesity), the mind (loneliness, anxiety) and the surroundings (air pollution). That is the full WHO idea of health appearing in a newspaper.