Sometimes I wish my life had a erase/rewind button

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Hollowed Generation

It is somewhat of a wonder why India fails to win in international sports. Lot of factors are blamed from a lack of sporting culture, to politicians holding all sports bodies memberships to lack of sporting facilities to parental attitudes.
These are all valid reasons but are they all? I think it also has a lot to do with our nutritional status. Reports all over indicate that Indian kids as a majority are malnourished. And it is not just the poor classes but even middle and rich class. Its not that all kids are hungry, just that they don't eat right.
Coomi Kapoor in Indian Express makes a valid argument. Most of us simply do not know what makes a good meal. Our breakfast are typically fried parathas which while very filling are hardly what one should eat for breakfast. In place of breakfast being the most important meal it is usually dinner which ideally should be the least important meal.
This leads to a situation where 70% of kids don't get proper nutrition! So that means out of maybe 100 million kids and youth there might be in India, its only 30 million who are eating well. So in sports we are a nation of maybe only 30 million population which no sporting culture. No wonder.

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