Obesity in Children is bumping up; Here’s how Ayurveda can keep your child away from it

The sedentary modern lifestyle and increasing automation have limited the physical activity of children in the past few years. Above that, junk food has made the problem more acute. the last two years, the Corona pandemic and resulting restrictions have further exacerbated the situation. The outdoor activities of children got much hampered during this time. In such a situation, obesity is up ticking in children. Obesity at an early age can cause serious problems at a later age. Here, we are giving a few tips that will keep your child fit.

Before going further, What is obesity?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is a condition in which excess fat accumulates in our body. This increases the risk of many serious diseases, such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes. Obesity in children makes them vulnerable to these diseases.

People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 25 are categorized as overweight and those whose BMI is more than 30 are said to be obese. BMI is a scale used to measure the overweight and underweight of a person.

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Obesity in Indian children:

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) report released in November 2021, obesity has increased among children up to the age of 5. The number of children with obesity has increased from 2.1% in NFHS-4 to 3.4% in NFHS-5. This change is alarming as about 1.44 crore children are overweight in the country. Around 2 billion children worldwide are obese.

How Ayurveda can help?

Weight loss can be done by resorting to Ayurveda. Along with reducing weight, the metabolism of the body can also be kept optimized. Here are some Ayurvedic insights to fight obesity:

• People suffering from obesity should eat light food cooked in less oil, which can be easily digested by the body.
• Ingredients like turmeric, ginger, chili, coriander, cinnamon should be used in the food.
• A steam bath should be taken after mixing Triphala oil and Valiya Lakshdi in water. Keeping yourself in a steamy room for a certain period of time is called a steam bath.  This will increase sweating and reduce fat.
• Practicing yogasanas like Tadasana( mountain pose), Paschimottanasana( seated forward bend),  Surya Namaskar( Sun salutation), Pawanmuktasana( wind relieving pose), Bhujangasana( cobra pose) and Dhanurasana( bow pose) daily help in cutting the body fat.
• One can also rely on Pranayama practice and perform Kapalbhati, Anulom Vilom, Bhastrika and Bhramari on a daily basis.
• Avoid waking up late at night and sleeping immediately after eating food.
• Preference should be given to light pulses with low protein and fat, moong, lentils.

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