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Sixty-four per cent of people in top cities at heart risk, finds study
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Thursday, 26 September, 2019, 15 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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Saffolalife, through its flagship study, which was conducted by Nielsen on World Heart Day, and covered 1,226 respondents across key cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, that 64 per cent of people in the top Indian cities who exhibited one or more of behaviours like lack of sleep, stress, sedentary lifestyle, skipping meals and belly fat were at heart risk.
It spoke about commonly ignored lifestyle habits and their high correlation to heart risks. Even more eye-opening was the lack of awareness of the impact of these habits on heart health.
While India is moving towards health consciousness, heart health awareness is still not as prevalent. The small habits and behaviours in our lifestyle that we tend to ignore a lot of times are factors that silently cause our hearts to be at risk.
Although we are aware about markers like high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes, etc, we are often not aware of the impact of the seemingly small lifestyle behaviours, which are within our control. Understanding the impact of these underlying habits is key to better heart health awareness and care.
The survey, which aimed at driving awareness of the impact of small habits that we fail to acknowledge, on the health of our hearts, was commissioned to create greater awareness regarding these lifestyle habits that lead to heart risk. Some of the startling facts from the study revolve around the growing incidence of heart risk amongst those who are stressed or get inadequate sleep.
While 65 per cent of people are stressed and at heart risk, yet 58 per cent of these do not consider it to be among the critical risk factors for heart risk, underscoring the lack of understanding and awareness.
The Saffolalife study also revealed interesting pegs across geographies and demographics. These are as follows:
Amongst all the three cities and considering people who exhibit one or more of these lifestyle behaviours, Mumbaikars show the highest incidence of heart risk, followed by Delhiites and Hyderabadis.
And, in Mumbai, 63 per cent of people aged between 30 and 40, who sleep insufficiently (less than 7.5 hours) are at heart risk, this number increases to 79 per cent in the age group of 41-55.
Across the three cities, while 57 per cent of people aged between 30 and 40 who are stressed are at heart risk, this number increases to 71 per cent in the age group of 41-55.
Ninety per cent of all males and 91 per cent of females who sleep insufficiently (less than 7.5 hours) and are at heart risk, do not even consider sleep as a heart risk factor.
Ninety per cent of males and 94% of females who do not exercise and are at heart risk, do not even consider it as a heart risk factor
Commenting on the findings of the study, Dr. Shashank Joshi, endocrinologist, said, “Lifestyle diseases are definitely a growing concern amongst the medical fraternity and heart disease has emerged as one of the most serious of these in the last few years.”
“However, most people do not understand how these small lifestyle behaviours can impact their heart. This study stated that 90 per cent of people who sleep less than 7.5 hours a day and are at heart risk, do not even consider sleep as a critical risk factor,” he added.
“Such basic lifestyle habits that we ignore today can lead to much bigger issues. This study is a wake-up call for us to start considering proactive understanding of heart health as a key factor while ensuring overall body health,” Dr Joshi said.
On leading a heart healthy lifestyle, nutritionist Niti Desai said, “Lifestyle plays such an important role in our overall body health, yet it’s the factor that most are unaware of. The Saffolalife study shows a strong correlation between your lifestyle and heart health risk.”
“Every individual can start making small but significant changes in their lifestyle by not ignoring these small habits and making a positive change in their lifestyles. This is easily done by eating right, exercising regularly, sleeping well and reducing stress,” he added.
In today’s age, hectic work schedules and sedentary lifestyles are affecting the heart health of Indians. While there are multiple causes that leads to an increased heart risk, it is important to be aware about these small factors and make lifestyle changes to be more heart healthy.
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