State starts portal to fight child obesity

Mumbai: With the help of known obesity surgeon Dr Sanjay Borude, the state government has launched a website to help people fight obesity in children in the state. The website is an interactive (two-way communication) one between patients and the doctor.

The website named www.childobesity.in was launched by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan at Man-tralaya in the presence of medical education minister Girish Mahajan on Friday.

Mr Mahajan said that as per the World Health Organisation report, 22 per cent people in the community were suffering from obesity. The government will help avail surgery for the patients in need, through government schemes or corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

Mr Mahajan said, “After taking charge of this department, I started a campaign called ‘Fight Obesity’. Earlier, this was seen in adults but now child obesity is also a major concern.”

Mr Khan said that it was very strange that on one hand we were witnessing obesity in the society, whereas on the other we were suffering from malnutrition. “We and the government are trying to remove malnutrition in the country. In the same way, we will have to fight the obesity of our children,” he said. An operation is the last resort for obesity, hence children should be given guidance.

The veteran actor also said, “The website will help them manage weight. This website will help parents know what their child is eating and how much nutrition they are taking. I learned the importance of nutrition at the age of 40 when I was doing the Bollywood film Ghajini and I followed a strict diet. We all must un-derstand the importance of what we eat and how much.”

On the release of the film, Balasaheb Thackeray, Mr Khan said that all no producers would want to compete with this film, as Balasaheb was the biggest star.