By: Rahul Mehra PhD, National Representative of India, UNESCO Chair, Global Health & Education, Executive Chaiman, Tarang Health Alliance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put a goal in front of all Indians to become “Viksit Bharat” or a developed country by 2047. One indicator of a developed country is that it has a high life expectancy. Unfortunately, the life expectancy in India is only about 70 years as compared to 85 years in Japan. One in four have diabetes and about one in three have high blood pressure, a precursor to heart disease. Also mental health issues are growing rapidly in India, especially among the youth. The highest risk factors for poor health are poor nutrition, hygiene, tobacco , sedentary lifestyle and excessive screen time.
We have two possible solutions to overcome this challenge. One is to provide quality and affordable healthcare to all. Although we can find excellent healthcare facilities, access to these quality institutions is limited and expensive. The other solution, which is much more cost-effective, is to educate the population to lead a health lifestyle. As we all know, changing health habits of adults is very difficult. The only opportunity to improve the health habits of school children is when their brains are still undergoing development. We propose that health education should be mandatory in schools and at all grade levels. It should encompass learning the skills to for physical, mental and social health. It should not only be about gaining knowledge about these topics. The goal is that children learn the skills to improve their health behaviors.
Tarang Health Alliance has been conducting health education in schools since 2021. This year, about 9000 students in 30 schools are using our health education curriculum. We need the message of how to lead a healthy lifestyle to spread across India.
We are therefore, launching a national campaign titled “Countdown to a healthy life: 5-4-3-2-1-0 starts now! The national campaign calls to action some of the steps we all need to take to lead a healthy life.
5- We need to eat five portions of vegetables and fruits every day.
4- We must wash our hands with soap and water at least 4 times a day; after going to the toilet and before eating our 3 meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
3- We need to eat three portions of protein every day. This could be in the form of legumes, non-vegetarian foods or other foods rich in protein.
2- We should limit our screen time to no more than 2 hours per day.
1-We should be physically active for at least one hour per day.
0-We should not consume tobacco, sugary drinks or salty snacks.
