Heart Risks: Expert Urges Youth To Cut Back on Junk Food

News Desk

Islamabad: Health experts on Tuesday said that lack of physical activity and consumption of food from outside instead of balanced home food are leading to obesity which increases the risk of heart attack in youngsters.

Dr Bazigha Hasan, a renowned specialist & nutritionist, while talking to a private news channel explained excessive consumption of Junk food and sugary drinks is responsible for rising heart problems among school-going kids, adding, that the number of heart attacks in school-going kids is not very high, but, due to sedentary lifestyles, the risk of suffering from a heart attack has spiked.

She suggested that children of all age groups must engage in physical exercise, and eating junk food frequently does not give them the nutrients they need to have enough stamina to do so.

Replying to a question, she said many risk factors can be controlled early in life, lowering the risk of heart disease later in life, adding that other risk factors are passed down through family members (they are hereditary) or are the result of another illness or disease.

Dr Bazigha said prevention is the best way to avoid a heart problem later in life, adding that controlling as many of the following risk factors as possible starting in childhood can help reduce a child s risk of developing heart disease as an adult.

High blood pressure (hypertension) in children is not a congenital heart disease, but it can have a hereditary link, she further mentioned.

To another question, the nutritionist said school canteens need to gradations and should steer clear of fried food and promote fruit, vegetables, calcium-rich foods and small portions of protein. Additional input from APP.