In my recent trip to Pakistan I met up with my old school friends and I couldn’t help but notice how fat they have become. They all come from middle/upper class families and have decent jobs. They used to be the *single pusli *kind in school but every one of them now has a ‘tondh’ and from their eating habits the future seems to suggest the *tondh *is only going to grow big.
Among my father’s friends, majority of which are retired armed forces people, also were in bad shape.
Though (poor) Pakistanis who have to catch buses or walk to their work and have to come home might have other health problems but they certainly didn’t have expanding waist lines.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
KFC, McDonalds and all those other fast food restaurants are status foods. if you eat that stuff, not only can you afford it, but you're also cool. at the same time it's the norm to eat out. all that stuff is just contributing to the tond.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Um not really as they eat at those restaurants like once a month if not more infrequently. Their cooks/nokar or Mom, not to mention Dahi bhallay plates, samosay, hulway were more the reason.
I think, another big part is that everyone could afford a car!
The whole time I was in Pakistan I craved a good salad, though I was offered (yummy .. actually very yummy) gajralla every house hold I visited, it being carrot season and all.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
lack of facilities and general interest in sports and fitness..too much sugar and too much fat in diet. i mean lets not blame mcdonalds, halwa, puri, paratha, samosa, pakora, mithai, paya, ghee filled salans, etc are enough tio do teh job, compared to some of that stuff, big mac may be considered health food :D
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Lack of proper education and awareness about health and nutrition. Desi cooking style is very fattening and worst of all people have this mentality that aray dekha jaye ga, Allah ka naam laikay kha lein...jaisay Allah ne aqal hi nahi di...
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
well yeah, but along with ghee and samosay and other stuff, now you have satured fats in the form of subs and McD burgers as well. everyone has a car now, so no one needs to walk. they can have a driver, or have someone drive them. take out’s very common too. (though no one ordered anything for me )
niksik: i agree. since it’s all in fashion to eat that stuff, they don’t really realize how bad that stuff really is for them. and on top of it the attitude is that to kya hua, akhir aik na aik din marna hi hai na. abay o! the way you’re going about it’s called suicide not a natural death
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Ok stupid Q but what do girls do to lose weight? Esp the middle class ones? Upper class ones can join ladies-only gyms, lower class ones prolly do alot of work at home and outside, but wat abt middle ones who hav sorta sedentary lifestyles? Is it naive to assume that it's not safe to go walking or jogging outside?
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Hmm ok..i dunno abt rest f ppl, but ive seen plenty of overweight women..their theory is taht they're married and have kids..and that takes bigger priority.. but they are of an older generation, the newer generation of mothers is definitely more body conscious now.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Big lifestyle changes, I'd say. You're right, a lot of families don't eat at McDy's regularly. Its a once in a while status thing.
But the problem is lifestyle changes. In my grandfather's and father's days - they used to take the bus and walk everywhere. And my grandparents weren't all that poor. On my mother's side, they had cars and drivers, but typically it was the women that were driven around; the guys all walked to work.
Safety too - I just don't think its really safe to do all that much walking anymore. You have to go to a park, really, and then God knows with traffic issues and work-life getting to be a bit more demanding than the old days - people don't have time.
They'd go to the movies back then, and then walk around in the theatre area, get food to eat, etc - wander around on the streets. Now they pop in a DVD at home - sit on the couch.
This is a worldwide problem. Believe me, I'm getting fat for the same reasons....and I'm not eating fast food everyday.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Ok stupid Q but what do girls do to lose weight? Esp the middle class ones? Upper class ones can join ladies-only gyms, lower class ones prolly do alot of work at home and outside, but wat abt middle ones who hav sorta sedentary lifestyles? Is it naive to assume that it's not safe to go walking or jogging outside?
Its actually not. I mean, from my visits to Karachi, unless if you're living in a more private compound with a few families and there's walking space, or unless you go to a park and have family running with you...its really not safe. The old neighborhood where my family used to live around in saddar, karachi - totally would not see women running around on the streets - too much of a crowd, and there's so many men and cars.
The city needs to make more recreational sort of areas for the public; and then even if you do that, there are so many jaahil folks who ruin it COMPLETELY, by spitting everywhere and peeing at night, and littering.
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
Do you guys think that due to the enormous increase of electronic media and thus watching TV has become a far more time consuming activity, which is taking time away from say taking a walk outside?
Re: Obesity among the middle/upper class Pakistanis.
I think it has to do more with the instant gratification and "super-size" desires of the day. When I visited over there, I saw mostly healthful people and I was really amazed at how they enjoyed their "treats"...instead of having a HUGE banana split sundae, they'd have a really small scoop of ice cream with a little bit of topping. It was literally like 1/10th the size of an american sundae yet they got as much (prob more) enjoyment of it. Those who are getting fatter are those who think "more is better" which sadly is kind of a western thing that maybe has caught on over there. I mean when I was pg and craving Big Macs night and day, my doc told me that thats ok, just keep it to one or two a week - NOT one or two a day lol! Moderation in all things is such a good rule to follow.
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