Docs frown on midnight munching

March 06, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:51 am IST - VIJAYAWADA:

City Police Commissioner A.B. Venkateswara Rao at the night food court in Vijayawada.— Photo: V. Raju

City Police Commissioner A.B. Venkateswara Rao at the night food court in Vijayawada.— Photo: V. Raju

The much-hyped food court culture promoted by city police commissioner A.B. Venkateswara Rao did not go down well with medical fraternity for it feels the concept would pave way for ill health among denizens.

Keen to enhance the image of capital city and cater to the eating needs of visitors reaching the city at odd hours, the top cop spruced up food courts in several places such as IGMC stadium, Benz Circle, BRTS Road, Payakapuram and Vastralata, serving hot and steaming food items from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

But the presence of local savouries like punugus, vadas, gares, bajjis and bondas is unacceptable to the medical fraternity becasue eating oily substance, well beyond midnight, will not only cause stomach disorders but would lead to ulcers and acidity.

Doctors are also concerned about the masala cuisine and junk food, especially the non-vegetarian deep fry items. “The denizens are getting hooked to food court culture and are turning nocturnal munchers. It is the duty of the organisers to serve healthy food lest digestion will take a beating,” said former Indian Medical Association president G. Samaram.

“People, who are compelled to eat late, should prefer eating curd rice, sambar rice and salads as they are easy to digest. Food items with spicy ingredients will cause biological disorders”.

Senior physician G. V. Mohan Prasad of Dolphin Medical Services felt that organisers should concentre on prevention of adulteration and upkeep of sanitation. “The concept is good for an emerging city but healthy food should be served to meet the hunger pangs of the customers. The ambiance should be pleasing and the push carts should be done away with”.

He said those whose lifestyle warranted eating out late would benefit from the concept. Some doctors said frequenting food courts will become a habit among the locals leading to night eating syndrome (NES), which is an eating disorder.

“We will be creating more obese people as eating late in the night tends to pack more flesh around bones,” they say in unison.

What is irritating the sports-loving denizens is the football court at IGMC stadium which is used as food court and what the players see in the morning is the stinking leftovers.

“Many beer bottles are found and the playfield is filled with the stench of urine. Youngsters who come to play in the mornings are put to a lot of hardships,” says football coach Johnson.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.