Diet And The Indian Heart

Dietary diversity and better maternal nutrition aid a healthy heart

- Namita Kohli

Even as the saturated fat and coronary disease association is being fiercely debated, particularly in the UK and the US, in India, the diet-heart association is not so much around the role of saturated fats. Instead, we need to trace the rising obesity levels to factors such as maternal nutrition, says Dr K. Srinath Reddy, eminent cardiologist and former president of the World Heart Federation. Reddy says there is enough evidence of the association between undernutrition and the subsequent predisposition to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and diabetes. Reddy, also director of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), points to the thrifty phenotype theory—or reduced foetal growth and its association with diseases later in life— that explains the rising rate of obesity, and our susceptibility to NCDs.