Count your calories on sarkari web sites now

If you want to eat healthy and want to know how good your daily meal is, all you need to do is log on to two web sites set up by the government as part of its Healthy India campaign, writes Sanchita Sharma.

If you want to eat healthy and want to know how good your daily meal is, all you need to do is log on to two web sites set up by the government as part of its Healthy India campaign.

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The campaign aims to bring down chronic ailments like heart disease, diabetes, cancers and stroke, which caused 53% of deaths in India in 2005.

Set up by the health ministry and the Public Health Foundation of India, the sites www.healthy-india.org and www.foodpyramidindia.org possibly give the best nutritional advice based on the traditional Indian diet.

“Cancers apart, major risk factors for other diseases are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables, obesity and tobacco use. Five of these risk factors are caused by unhealthy diets and being physically inactive, which we hope to change through the campaign,” says Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. “A third of all cancers, too, can be prevented by eating healthy and staying active.”

Diet advice apart, foodpyramidindia.org has a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories your body needs based on your age, height and activity level. It also categorises ‘physical activity’ as moderate or vigorous, in addition to a daily routine like walking, climbing stairs, doing household chores or playing outdoor games.