Female food habits are unhealthy
Prof. Rahmat Karim Baig
The title of this short article should not alarm the reader especially ladies. The contents of it are not research based for long time but just day to day observations that we see daily in our homes, villages, communities and all over the province.
The likes and dislikes of everyone of us are individual matters. All over the KP which is dominantly Pathan society in the grip of Pathan values and taboos. The rest who are not Pathans have also got their values but meat is an item which is highly valued by all. All other food items count next to it but in old Chitral milk was on top and meat was second in priority.
Milk was so valued that the old Kho people of Chitral hesitated to eat milk or any other dairy product in their dinners because after supper they had to go to bed and slept and had no chance to thank God Almighty abundantly as milk deserved but preferred to eat dairy products in breakfast or at lunch and thank Allah for that treat till next meal.
Some also did not eat any other food just after eating or drinking milk. That was the idea of the old Kho people of Chitral. Now all those values have been crushed. It does not mean that male food habits are ideal but a bit different.
Now back to female food priorities. They like rich food such as fatty mutton which is full of cholesterol. Over use of Dalda in curry, rice and other items. Over use of sugar which has been called white poison. The sweeter the tea the better it is.
Over use of citric fruits which is perhaps a biological demand of female physical system but over use of sour fruits or unripe fruits cause damage to digestive system and a very large number of women suffer from this ailment.
The women of older generation did manual work but at present this is the most detested thing to do so over use of fatty items, sugar, sour fruits, over or daily use of No 2 drugs is the cause. Over and above they neglect precautions, violate precautionary measures secretly. What they are told to eat they neglect it what is prohibited is taken secretly. Their impatience in the intake of food is a big side of the issue.
The daily intake of rice, Dalda, sugar, Bakery products, sour food items, sluggishness, sweetmeat, poorly cooked food, repeatedly refrigerated foods etc. and thus develop obesity which usually brings a number of other symptoms such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol etc.
Another important thing is to be noted that now- a- days family members do not eat together. They eat separately. It is against old Kho etiquettes. All the family members should eat in one session and the females will get no corner time to eat banned items. In this way the kids will also be trained and learn the etiquettes.
They can also be controlled and managed. They need our collective attention. It is our responsibility to transfer good values to the kids and the unruly youngsters will also be bridled.
A thought provoking piece of write up by our esteemed writer, however I would also like to add some to it and some disagreement.
Use of low quality cold drinks by both men and women is the cause of obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol, especially in wedding ceremonies.
If dalda is used in cooking, then all the family members are eating together, however I would like to add is the bad habit of eating vegetables has gone down. Women at home do not grow vegetables in the small piece of land, even dhania can be grown in a useless bucket. But we buy it from bazar. Podina can be grown on kitchen garden but we prefer to watch start dramas more than we are concern about our health. Very true. Households used to purchase wheat grain from go down and women in the house used to clean it and grind it in water mill, but now white flour is available and without any effort has resulted in maida problem. Children, men and women all suffer from this problem. We should buy wheat from bazar and grind and eat not the white flour. As white sugar is considered white poison so is the white flour and white salt. We should encourage use of green tea instead of cold drinks. Shop keeper inside the villages shall be bound not to sell low quality chips, bubbles, biscuits and etc.