Press Coverage

Think twice before having chips, burgers, samosas

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 12
Trans fats found in most of the packaged and fried foods available in the markets are playing havoc with the health of the people of the country and it is high time to initiate nationwide awareness drives to stress upon the healthy-food alternatives.

This was stated by cardiologist Dr. HK Bali, who was interacting with media persons during a national heart failure summit. “Heart diseases have engulfed the country and four Indians die due to heart disease every minute. The cardiovascular diseases are estimated to kill around 10 million Indians every year by 2015. In order to reverse this trend, it is imperative that we target schoolchildren and educating them about the trans-fats they are consuming in the form of potato chips, burgers, samosas and other fried things,” he said.

The trans-fats are used to make food crispy and enhance its shelf life, but these lead to obesity, affecting the functioning of intestines and pancreas and leading to diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, said the cardiologist. While the countries of Denmark, Sweden and two states in the US have already banned the use of trans-fats in the food items, India is yet to make people aware of its bad effects on health, said Dr. Bali.

Earlier, Dr. Bali presented the Heart Beat Lifetime Achievement Awards yesterday to three citizens of the tri-city for making a difference in the lives of the people. At a function organized at the Hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh, Dr. Bali said his The Heart Foundation would be recognizing people who have contributed to the society in one way or the other.

The Heart Beat Lifetime Achievement Awards for the year were conferred upon the former head of the plastic surgery at PGIMER Dr. PS Chari. The Heart Beat Award of Excellence was shared by former advocate general and senior advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court ML Sarin and his wife Niti Sarin for spearheading the voluntary blood-donation movement across the country.

The third heartbeat award was presented to social worker Babbi Harbhajan Singh, who has been serving the poor children undergoing free-heart surgery at the PGI and the Fortis Hospital under the Rotary’s heartline project. The Heart foundation also felicitated a city girl, Harsimar, who topped the All India PMT examination of the CBSE this year.