Concern expressed over high incidence of non-communicable diseases

C.N. Manjunath, Director, Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, has expressed concern over high incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including heart ailments, hypertension, and diabetics among Indian youths.

Changing food habits, physical inactivity, and tobacco addiction have made Indian youths vulnerable to NCDs. Those below the age of 40 form 25 per cent of the total heart patients in India. Stress at workplace has also made the youths susceptible to diseases. Nutritious diet, yoga and physical exercise should become part of one’s lifestyle to keep diseases at bay, he said at the 27th annual convocation of the Kuvempu University held on Jnana Sahyadri campus in Shankaraghatta near here on Friday.

Mr. Manjunath also expressed concern over the youths in urban areas getting addicted to narcotics, including cocaine, opium and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). Apart from imparting formal education to youths, education institutions should also create awareness among them on the health hazards caused by sedentary lifestyle and drug abuse, he said.

As the overall progress of the nation depends on the quality of education imparted to its youth, it is necessary to usher in professionalism in institutions of higher learning, he said, adding that teaching should not remain an unidimensional process. Classrooms should become a platform for lively interaction between teachers and students. Indian universities should be allowed to enter into pacts with universities of developed nations for exchange programmes to provide a better exposure for the students here, he said.

Indian youths should develop communication, decision-making and leadership skills to grab the wide-range of opportunities created by globalisation and economic liberalisation, he added.

Graduate and postgraduate degrees were awarded to 37,597 candidates and PhDs to 94 candidates on the occasion. Basavaraja Rayaraddi, Minister for Higher Education, Jogan Shankar, Vice- Chancellor, J. Somashekhar, Registrar and C.M. Thyagaraja, Registrar (Evaluation) were present on the occasion.