New Era of Health and Fitness in Goa

Goa jumps on the treadmill of fitness revolution

- Nivedita Dempo

WE GOANS ARE famous across India for our happy-go-lucky, “susegaad” life, and our love for fish curry and rice, followed by an afternoon siesta. This sounds like the perfect recipe for a happy and healthy life. However, under the surface of this seemingly healthy way of life is a ticking bomb of health issues primarily related to our modern lifestyle. Lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, cancers, childhood obesity, etc. are on the rise, exponentially, in Goa. As a Goan and a fitness professional, while I am extremely concerned about the current and impending health menace, I am also encouraged by a silver lining to this dark cloud – while being overweight and falling prey to an array of lifestyle diseases continues to be a problem, I notice a significant attitude shift among Goans, who are now more concerned, more aware, and to a certain extent more educated about health issues, and have a greater desire to live a healthier lifestyle. I hope this will foster essential behaviour and lifestyle modifications and lead to a healthier and happier society.

Just about 15 years ago, ‘gyms’ in Goa were places primarily frequented by the youth to build their muscles and feed their vanity. How things have changed, and today you can find men and women of all age groups ‘working out’ in fitness centres. While exercising for appearance is still crucial (absolutely nothing wrong with that!), I notice a shift in focus from vanity to preventative healthcare, where the importance is primarily placed on exercising to prevent and/or combat the onset of lifestyle diseases and live a healthy life. More and more people are realizing that there is no short cut to health and they need to do some exercise on a regular basis.