Youth. Health Consciousness. Any link?

We know a great deal more about the causes of physical disease

than we do about the causes of physical health

I vividly remember, more or less a week back I was engrossed in watching something different on the idiot-box, thankfully very much away from the regular saas-bahu soaps. It was ‘The Youth Unplugged’ on NDTV 24X7. They had roped in six students from IIT Madras who were having a debate on topics related to youth. The topics comprised of ‘Are today’s youth health conscious?’, ‘Should the youth enter Politics?’ and many more.

What really interested me was a genuine question- how health conscious are the youth today? Is going to gyms every morning and night, displays the health consciousness of the youth? Is living on diet pills and diet food a way of being health conscious? Does the escalating sale of Diet Pepsi against Coca Cola or regular Pepsi displays the health consciousness among youth?

Today, everyone believes the person who has a fit 28 inch waist line is really healthy. People crave for this absolute waist length, but the case again becomes one of the kinds where ‘All that glitters is not gold.’ The resistance of the body to fight diseases and stay fit even when the world is down with various illnesses is in true terms, good health. I don’t really understand why people cling to the world trends of looking good, to be fit! Other than dieting to stay fit, I believe it is a lot better to eat healthy stuff and stay strong.

The question today is not to survive the best in the present times, but it is about surviving in the long run in the best possible state. I hate to see the kids today thriving on mere Ruffle Lays and potato chips along with Pepsi (or Diet Coke in extra heath conscious cases). More number of children are falling to prey to diseases from their childhood only, the reason for this being the negligence of the parents in their child’s eating habits. How can a person neglect the very thing that supports his existence today? A man is nothing without a fit body. And it is the youth today who need to really be aware of the ill effects of the consumptions of not only ciggies and boozes but also, wrong food. It is of extreme importance that a youth takes care of whatever he consumes coz the seeds sown today shall produce the fruits tomorrow. So, if u want sweet fruits tomorrow, then have some nutritious stuff today. Or else, don’t be surprised if your sons and grand sons leave you at some old age home because of your ill and ever deteriorating health because who would have the time in the future to take care of others?

Writing Credits: Aaishwari Chouhan
Editing Credits: Piyush Singh