Prevention is the only solution, but will the South Asian community take intiative?

Indian sweets Image by: Oksabaro

The South Asian community consists of Bangladeshis, Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans. Most typical South Asian communities stick to their traditional and cultural values as it is of quite importance to them and their way of life. This also means not changing their diet, which has been shown to impose many health risks. The main risk here is diabetes, which is a chronic illness that occurs when high levels of sugar are present in the blood. With such a chronic disease taking over the South Asian community, it has got me wondering as to what they are doing to combat this risk.

According to Dr. Sohal, South Asians are 3-5 times more likely to have diabetes than compared to the general population in Canada. The major problem here being the types of food they eat on a day-to-day basis. Not only does their diet consist of a large amount of sweets, but also present are foods rich in fats and deep fried foods. From my perspective, these foods are of cultural importance to the South Asian community and changing tradition would be a sign of disbelief. An example of such a culturally valued food would be ghor. Dr. Vinod Patel

Deep-frying Samosas Image by: Kirti Poddar

from the University of Warwick studies the clinical and cultural aspects of diabetes and defines ghor unrefined solid brown sugar that often many Indo-Asians wrongly perceive as a ‘healthy sugar.’ He also found out that South Asians have a poorer understanding about the key features of diabetes prevention. With a lack of giving up tradition and a poor sense of communication, a sense of hope in the South Asian community is far from where it needs to be.

Some important targets into dealing with the high prevalence of diabetes should include community initiatives and educating the South Asian community as to what a nutritious diet is and what alternatives they can look forward to. The biggest concern is for them to accept these tips and to change their lifestyle, but Dr. Julia Lawton has found the opposite in her studies.  Dr. Lawton, Professor of Population Health Science at the University of Edinburgh performed a study to observe the eating habits of Pakistanis with diabetes. She mentioned in her results that most had continued to consume the South Asian foods despite their apparent knowledge of the risk it had upon their health. It seems like the South Asian community will not take a stand towards making a change in their diet whether or not they know how dangerous it can be to their health.

The solution to the high prevalence of diabetes in South Asians is prevention. It can come in many forms in order to deal with this situation. Whether it be physical activity or making healthy alternatives, there is a way out of this risky diet and it is up to the South Asians to take responsibility for their actions.

References: 

–Dr. Julia Lawton’s research on prevention of Diabetes in South Asians

–What a typical Indo-Asian diet consists of

–“We should change ourselves, but we can’t”

–Dr. Patel’s research on diabetes and South Asian Health