Srinagar- An excited staffer, Asif Ahmad (name-changed) at a buzzing eatery in City Mall, Lal Chowk, Srinagar readies himself to promote the latest combination meal offer on their official Instagram page. “If you are planning to visit our restaurant with a group of friends, imagine how much time you need to decide on what each of them wants to eat, if they want to share, how many sides should they get, etc. Why not make it easier for you? Try our super-saver combo meal that includes enough food to feed 3-4 people? This combo has three large pieces of fried chicken, five juicy chicken lollipops, one dip, and two refreshing soft drinks – all at an unbeatable price of just 551 rupees! But wait, there’s more – you can savour this feast at home with our hassle-free online delivery via Swiggy or Zomato,” the phone camera stops recording.
Asif says with a smile, “After all, people want more food at a less price. That’s the secret recipe that keeps them coming back for more.”
Gone are the days when the classic chicken Kanti and flavourful Wazwaan was the most sought-after food for any restaurant goer in Kashmir. With more cafes and online food delivery services, the kind of food people prefer has also changed. These days, the mostly ordered food in Kashmir is Tibetan momos, fried chicken, and pizzas.
Umar Rather, a Kashmir based food-blogger and owner of ‘Kashmirfoodgram’ page with two lakh followers said the most ordered food in the valley nowadays is combo meals that includes fried chicken, pizza, burgers, soft drinks. “It doesn’t have to be a big one, the combo meals can go as low as 300 rupees. It creates a satisfactory menu, such as main + side + dessert, or main + side + soft drink. With easy availability and affordable prices, it attracts a lot young population (in their 20’s and early 30’s) who consume it the most,” Rather said.
Kashmir Observer also spoke to several restaurant owners in different localities of Srinagar who said the mostly ordered food nowadays includes momos, chicken fried rice, pizzas, spring rolls and burgers. “We receive around 80 orders on an average per day. It’s mostly the teenagers, college and University going students who frequent our restaurant,” 31-year-old Mubashir-ul-Aslam, owner of Kashiraq restaurant in Chanapora area, Srinagar said.
Aslam said, the food delivery services have been gaining popularity in the valley over the last few years. This has had a significant impact on the way people consume food and their food habits. From being able to order food from the comfort of your home to being able to sample a variety of cuisines, delivery services are changing the way people eat in Kashmir.
A staffer at ‘Gatoes’, a local food and delivery service tied with over 300 plus restaurants in Srinagar said that every day on an average, each delivery boy is assigned 15-20 orders. Out of which 90 percent ordered food is pizzas,” he said.
According to a Statista report, the number of users across the meal delivery market in India is estimated to reach 346.6 Mn by 2028. This anticipated surge in user numbers has transformed online food aggregation and delivery into a highly lucrative segment, attracting new players and investors.
The reports also show that the combined monthly app downloads of Zomato and Swiggy averaged 7.6 Mn and reached a total of 83.5 Mn between January and November 2023. Zomato led with 47.5 Mn downloads (56.9%), while Swiggy recorded 36 Mn (43.1%).
It is worth noting that the Swiggy app covers its grocery services (Instamart) and restaurant deals and discovery (Dineout) vertical besides food delivery.
Health implications of fast food
The rise of food delivery services has had both positive and negative effects on health. While, it has made it easier for people to access multiple cuisines at affordable prices, on the other hand, it has exposed them to various lifestyle disorders.
Studies show that the apps are designed in such a way that a customer spends as much money as possible – and probably hasn’t thought twice about it. “The food delivery apps tend to work on two levels: to attract you to the app in the first place, by offering a discount code or voucher for the first order, providing free delivery on the first order, or offering a limited-time promotion for new users; to influence how you behave while using the app, such as offering discounts on specific restaurants or foods to change what you buy.
“The apps promote specific restaurants or food categories in prominent positions on the platform to attract your attention (e.g., in a “featured” section). With the result, they make it more difficult to be healthy, for example making it difficult for you to inform your food choices through calorie labels,” the study stated.
The results of this fast-food consumption are clearly seen. The prevalence of systemic hypertension among children appears to be increasing in Kashmir especially in view of the growing population of children with obesity and increasing survival of neonates after getting critical care for weeks and increasing screening of blood pressure in routine outpatient visits.
Dr. Rabbanie Tariq, Preventive Medicine Physician promoting Lifestyle Medicine in Kashmir said they have come across a number of patients from the child and adolescent group who had elevated blood pressure diagnosed by a pediatrician.
“They were referred for Lifestyle Modifications relevant to their risk factors responsible for the onset of hypertension. A lot of times hypertension is discovered as a coincidental finding in patients,” Rabbanie said.
He said there are multiple factors responsible for the increase in the frequency of hypertension in this age group. “In addition, to the secondary Hypertension for which certain organic causes are responsible which can be related to a certain organ or endocrine issues. There are more important reasons too. Habits are inculcated from the external environment. Children and adolescents are exposed to poor lifestyle due to change in standards of living, high-calorie diet, junk foods, less physical activity, stressful competition, increased screen time and genetic modifications introduced through chronic poor lifestyle in the parental generation,” Rabbanie said.
High blood pressure, according to the doctor, usually doesn’t have any symptoms.
“However, signs and symptoms that might indicate a high blood pressure emergency include Headaches, Seizures, Vomiting, Chest pains, Fast, pounding or fluttering heartbeat (palpitations), Shortness of breath. Such symptoms may need to be evaluated by the expert,” Rabbanie said.
Dr. Rumisa Mir, Medical officer at Sub-district hospital Char-Sharief said the unhealthy foods like pizza, burgers, and chips lack important things like vitamins, minerals, fibre, and other necessary nutrients that help a young individual grow physically and mentally. These foods are packed with cholesterol, excessive sugars, empty calories, high sodium content, artificial colours, preservatives.
“In recent years, childhood obesity and related health problems has become a major concern. A significant contributor to this epidemic is the consumption of junk foods. These highly processed, calorie-dense, and nutritionally deficient foods have infiltrated our children’s diets, jeopardising their overall health and well-being,” Mir said.
Studies have also found the prevalence of obesity among women worldwide has escalated to 26%, and among adolescent girls, it is 18%. Since the 21st century, obesity has been called a global pandemic as its spread from adolescent to adults due to junk food are evident. Obesity is the term for excessive fat deposition, which increases the probability of every complication. Through the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated using weight, height, and age, obesity-related metabolic diseases determine our health.
“An elevated BMI is closely associated with metabolic and gynecological issues in women, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB), miscarriage, and infertility,” Mir said.
Mir added, large amounts of junk food consumption have an impact on metabolism. All the chemical processes that happen within our bodies are referred to as the metabolism. It is closely related to the number of calories expended each day. Junk food slows down the body’s metabolism and reduces the number of calories it burns, which makes it challenging to maintain a healthy weight.
The doctor said the best prevention strategy should be adopted from childhood onwards. “Children are often influenced by the examples set by the actions and behaviours of the parents. A child will understand that junk food is not commonly available if parents avoid it. If a child sees their parents’ eating well and not being selective about healthy food options, they are more likely to consume a balanced diet.”
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