Survey suggests Delhiites leading unhealthy lifestyle

A study has revealed that less than half of Delhiites are leading a healthy lifestyle. It claimed that 43 per cent of people in the national capital have a lifestyle score of less than 65, which is defined as a very low score. The city’s healthy lifestyle score lags behind the all India score.

Lifestyle score were calculated on three factors — the eat better score, happiness score, and active score. Saffolalife research study released on Tuesday revealed that India’s eat better score is 58, happiness score is 55, and active score is 35. This showcases how the sedentary lifestyle of India is pulling its healthy lifestyle score down.

Senior cardiologist at Moolchand Medcity, Dr H.K. Chopra, said: “The healthy lifestyle score is an excellent tool to know about your lifestyle today and how it relates to your heart health. It puts emphasis on key lifestyle factors — physical activity, food habits, and stress/ wellness and happiness scores in addition to cardiovascular parameters.”

Delhi’s healthy lifestyle score of 65, which lags behind the all India score, calculated on the basis of research in five cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Chandigarh — with Bengaluru leading the healthy lifestyle score at 71 whereas Mumbai is at 67.

Former chief dietician of AIIMS and president of the Diabetes Foundation (India) Rekha Sharma said: “The Saffolalife study 2016 indicates a behavioural shift towards healthy lifestyle which is good for the heart. However, many of us are still far from what we call healthy lifestyle. To achieve a complete healthy lifestyle, we have to set small and realistic goals.”

While analysing the eat better score of Delhiites, it was found that 58 per cent of them end up skipping a meal and less than half of the population (49 per cent) regularly consume fruits.

In contrast to national capital, Mumbai’s eat better score is 51, happiness score is 81, and active score is 31. This shows that both Mumbai and Delhi have a sedentary lifestyle but the happiness score of Mumbai is significantly higher than Delhi.