Mumbai: A short animated movie, seeking to highlight the problems of obesity and diabetes in Indian society, was released today. The film is made by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) in collaboration with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and will be screened from tomorrow in over 100 theatres including multiplexes across the city.
The initiative is a part of civic body's campaign 'Swasthya Main Hai Swaad', which focuses on twin themes of healthy eating and exercise to keep diabetes away. "An increasingly sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy dietary intake has led to an explosion in diabetes. MCGM has initiated several programmes for raising awareness of this ever-growing disease," said Additional Municipal Commissioner (western suburbs), Sanjay Deshmukh. "India has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the world's capital of coronary heart disease and diabetes.
It is necessary to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle in reducing risks of such diseases," Sujesh Vasudevan, President, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, said. The film displays opposite lifestyles of two young kids.
One of them is pursuing healthy lifestyle by eating right food, exercising, playing different sports, etc, whereas the other child is exposed to unhealthy lifestyle like eating all types of junk food, lazing around, watching TV, sleeping, etc. "The idea is to create a sense of realisation among parents and children to adapt a healthy and disciplined lifestyle and avoid disease like obesity and diabetes," added Deshmukh. Earlier, MCGM started 'Control Diabetes and rtension Act Now Programme' since 2011.
Under this program, the civic body is providing services for detection of diabetes, treatment, follow-up and support through its 80 dispensaries. According to data, 90,644 patients (23040 Old/67604 New) have been screened for diabetes and there are 18673 newly detected cases under the program.
