Just Like That: Health consciousness, or health obsession?

Health awareness is rising, but experts warn that tracking calories, sleep and fitness can become an unhealthy obsession rather than a balanced lifestyle.

My children seem to know almost everything under the sun about health and well-being. At the drop of a hat, they authoritatively spout knowledge about calories, carbohydrates, proteins, probiotics, gut health, intermittent fasting, strength training, glucose spikes, sleep cycles and metabolic fitness. They wear watches that measure their steps, monitor their heart rates, calculate their sleep, and sometimes seem to know more about their bodies than their doctors do.

From intermittent fasting to calorie tracking, health-conscious habits can turn into an obsession. The answer may lie in balance, routine and moderation. (Unsplash)

But a thought often comes to my mind: has this extraordinary consciousness of health necessarily produced healthier habits? The youth health enthusiast today often lives by a curious cycle of penitence and indulgence. There is fasting, followed by feasting; abstinence, followed by excess. Carbohydrates are declared the enemy, only to be followed by a double hamburger. Sugar is renounced with missionary zeal, only for a triple-scoop sundae to arrive as a reward for having been virtuous. There is a week of intense exercise, followed by several days of complete indolence. Alcohol is abandoned for a fortnight and then consumed in unacceptable quantities.

This is not really health consciousness. It is oscillation. The underlying psychology is revealing. We increasingly treat health as a project of instant transformation rather than a discipline of daily living. We want to lose weight quickly, build muscle quickly, detox quickly, sleep better quickly and reverse the consequences of years of neglect with a powder, pill, programme or miracle diet.

Social media has intensified this impatience. Instagram and its numerous cousins have created an enormous marketplace of instant health solutions of the one-size-fits-all variety. In this avalanche of dubious information, the problem is one of overchoice, each option looking more enticing than the next. One influencer recommends intermittent fasting. Another advocates a high-protein diet. A third demonises carbohydrates. A fourth recommends eliminating dairy. A fifth discovers the miraculous virtues of some exotic seed.

The result can be an unhealthy obsession with health, of too much noise without the benediction of light. This is where the contrast with the past becomes interesting. It would be romantic nonsense to suggest that earlier generations were uniformly healthier. They suffered from infectious diseases, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, high infant mortality and many conditions that modern medicine has transformed. But there were certain advantages. Food was generally less industrialised. Ultra-processed foods had not colonised the modern diet. Eating was less continuously available. There was no refrigerator filled with temptations, no food-delivery app capable of bringing a feast to one's doorstep at midnight, and no algorithm constantly presenting photographs of food. Instant gratification had not become a cultural principle.

Physical activity, too, was often embedded in ordinary life. People walked more. They climbed stairs. Domestic and occupational activity demanded movement. Children played outdoors because there were fewer screens competing for their attention. Exercise was not necessarily something one purchased through a gym membership; it was often an incidental consequence of living.

There was also, perhaps, a greater acceptance of routine. One ate at certain times, slept at reasonably predictable hours, worked, rested and socialised reasonably. Today’s generation has often dissolved the boundaries between work and leisure, waking and sleeping, appetite and availability.

Stress is another part of the equation. The contemporary world rewards speed, competitiveness and perpetual availability. Notifications never stop. Careers are uncertain. Social comparison is relentless. Even leisure can become competitive: how many steps, how many calories burned, how much muscle gained, how little sleep required.

The irony is extraordinary. We have begun to measure everything except whether we are actually enjoying our lives. So what is the answer? Certainly not a return to ignorance. Health awareness is a great advance. But awareness must ultimately lead to balance, not anxiety. The body does not require moral judgement every time one eats a piece of cake. A hamburger is not a sin. An occasional drink does not constitute moral collapse. Missing the gym is not a calamity. Nor does eating a salad compensate for a week of excess.

I often say that if one wants to ‘sin’ as long as possible, one must do so in moderation. There is a Russian joke about a man who says he is a vegetarian, does not drink, smoke or party, eats frugally, avoids sugar, salt and fat, and exercises every day. His friend, sipping his vodka, casually asks: why are you then alive? There is truth in this caricature. I am deeply suspicious of the person who proclaims he has no weaknesses. Life is a gift to be enjoyed, and if this includes transcending the obsession with ‘perfect’ health, and falling prey to temptation sometimes, so be it.

As the poet Zauq says:

Behtar tau hai yahi ki na duniya se dil lage

Par kya karein jo kaam na be-dillagi chale

‘Tis best, of course, if we can go beyond the world’s distractions

But what to do if it is impossible not to succumb to temptations.

Pavan K Varma is an author, diplomat, and former member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). The views expressed are personal