Are you overweight? Diabetic? And have high cholesterol? But can’t stop craving for that chunky bar of nutty chocolate?
Worry no more. Psychologist Prerna Kohli has come to your rescue with a one-of-a-kind food de-addiction centre at Gurgaon, where she plans to counsel food junkies out of the bad habit and restore faith in healthy eating. She is an expert and deals with patients between the age group of 10 and 65 years.
The centre would be on the lines of an alcohol or drug de-addiction centre and would admit patients for treatment and counselling. Kohli said that while talking to her patients, she realised that just like alcohol and drugs people were turning to food to deal with stress and depression.
“India is under a siege. Junk food, alcohol and sedentary lifestyle are leading us to self-destruction, making one in every five Indian either obese or overweight,” she said, adding, “Many patients told me that they would go on a binge eating spree when they were under stress. For some it was chocolates, for some fried food and for others it was food with high calories.” Yet some prefer aerated drinks such as Cola and fizzy energy drinks, which have high-sugar content and extremely harmful preservatives, she said.
“Wrong food habits coupled with erratic lifestyles is leading people to obesity, diabetes, hyper-tension and other lifestyle diseases.” She added that she began by profiling her patients, especially those who needed help with their weight or lifestyle. She concluded that a centre would be best for the cause and her centre will be open for all in a couple of months. Her wide client list includes celebrities, business honchos from leading multi-national companies. Apart from that, she also counsels schoolchildren, housewives, young mothers and couples. According to a study published in journal Lancet, India is just behind United States and China as far as the highest number of obese people are concerned. While US topped the list with 13 per cent of obese people in 2013, China and India together accounted for 15 per cent of the world’s obese population. The number of overweight and obese people globally increased from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013. This is one-third of the world’s population.