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Written By: Agencies | Published : February 19, 2015 11:37 AM IST
Canberra, Feb 19: A quarter of Australia's adolescents are either overweight or obese, a new health survey revealed Thursday. The report, tabled by Australia's Cancer Council and National Heart Foundation, found that more than a quarter of Australia's teenage boys and a fifth of all female students were classified as overweight across the country, reported Xinhua. (Read: Changing stem cell structure can tackle obesity, cancer, inflammation and arthritis)
According to the chair of the Cancer Council's Public Health Committee, Craig Sinclair, a lack of encouragement for physical exercise throughout schools is one of the main reasons for the increase in weight issues. The dramatic rise in computer games was also identified as a possible reason, with 58 percent of students having at least three televisions at their house, while 40 percent have video game consoles in their rooms. (Read: Obese, young men earn 18% less than those having normal weight)
The vast majority of adolescents, 82 percent, are not engaging in more than 60 minutes of physical activity per day as is what is recommended, Sinclair told The ABC. As a parent myself, I know the challengers of managing electronic devises in the home and it's not easy. (Read: Health, not peer pressure, motivates obese teenagers to lose weight)
What are reasons for obesity?
The prime reason is eating unhealthy foods which add more calories and provide less or no nutrition at all to our bodies. A regular intake of such foods plays havoc with our system depositing excess fat which adds weight and pushes us towards being obese.
Another factor is the lack of physical activity. Due to changes in lifestyle, people are plonked in front of their TVs or laptops for hours on end without getting any exercise which leads to weight gain and other health problems. Over time, this combined with unhealthy eating leads to obesity. Read more about Mega guide to curb obesity
Here is a healthy meal plan for the obese:
Breakfast:
2 onion uttapam, 1 cup low-fat curd, 1 fruit OR 1.5 cup vegetable dalia, 1 glass lemon water.
Lunch:
1 cup carrot and onion salad, 2 rotis, 1.5 cup aloo nutri curry, half cup curd OR salad, 1.5 cup steamed rice, 1.5 cup sambar, half cup buttermilk.
Dinner:
1 cup clear tomato soup, 2 rotis, 1 cup carrot-peas, hald cup yellow dal OR 1 cup tomato-cucumber salad, 2 rotis, 1 cup paneer curry. Read more about World Obesity Day: Why we need to control obesity
With inputs from IANS
Photo source: Getty images
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