Soaring rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease in the Asian community ... as a woman of Bangladeshi heritage I am a  prime candidate for any one of these life-threatening diseases – if I don’t watch what I eat, that is.

My parents have both been diagnosed with diabetes so I really need to take greater care of what I eat and drink, and should take up the advice being offered in a new campaign led by the East Lancashire NHS Trust which is trying to get the north west’s Asian community fit and healthy and to re-think what they eat and how they cook.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) issued a stark reminder earlier this month that one in  five men and one in six women in the UK die from heart disease.

For South Asians living in the UK – Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans – the risk is even higher.

They are up to twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease before the age of 69 than the rest of the UK population. Pakistani men and women and Bangladeshi men have a higher risk than other South Asian groups.

According to Diabetes UK, South Asians are up to six times more likely to have Type 2 diabetes than white people, and with diabetes prevalence in England predicted to increase by 47 per cent by 2025 the condition will continue to have a considerable impact on South Asian communities across the UK.

And as 90 per cent of young people who have Type 2 diabetes are obese, it’s a stark warning that watching what you eat is vital.

Asian men and women are around 35 per cent less likely to take part in physical activity compared to the general population.

Freshly-cooked home-made meals are a staple of most South Asian households, including my own. However, though this may sound healthy, typical dishes such as pilau rice and chicken curry often have a high content of ghee (clarified butter) and salt. Chapatis are often finished with a spread of butter.

Traditional snacks, such as samosas and pakoras, are deep fried and served with a fizzy drink. As scrumptious as they sound, it is this diet, accompanied by a relatively sedentary lifestyle, which is a contributing factor to many conditions.

NHS East Lancashire has introduced a number of initiatives including a weight management programme for South Asian women which delivers healthy eating advice about food which is relevant to their culture. There is also a Cook4life course delivered in South Asian languages, single-sex exercise classes given by a bi-lingual instructor and continual engagement with local mosques and community centres to share important health messages and signpost services.
 
Local GP, Dr Nazneen Begum, is hoping – through straightforward advice and healthy eating tips – that she can encourage more families, in particular women, to look at what they eat and cook in the family home.

She came along to inspect my own kitchen cupboard to see if I was eating healthily.

My diet does consist mainly of curries and rice, but sometimes even I can be a bit ‘adventurous’ and include stir fries and some good old fashioned English dinners like shepherd’s pie and roast lamb with mash.

Apart from a couple of cans of tinned soup and spaghetti and a bottle of Coke – which I admit is a rare treat – my eating habits are generally good, said Dr Begum.

But she advised I could replace my sunflower oil with olive oil, replace my ‘treat’ with the diet variety, and try to make my own soups.

Dr Begum then went on to put together a 30-minute healthy curry. Using fresh ingredients including onion, tomatoes and chicken breast with the fat trimmed off, the curry was very tasty, fresh, and not drenched in thick oil, which is what you often find when eating out in Indian restaurants – or at my mum's house whenever I go round for Sunday dinner. Dr Begum said: “What people don’t realise is you can eat healthy vegetables and meat, just don’t drown it in loads of vegetable oil.

“Curries aren’t bad for you if you cook them right, and just doing simple things like replacing vegetable oil with olive oil, and only using one tablespoon rather than four can make that difference.”

With Ramadan – the Islamic month of fasting – only two months away, Dr Begum is also keen to get families thinking about what they will cook for their meal at the end of the night.

She said: “Too often people fast for the whole day and then tuck into fatty foods at night, which isn’t good for the body, especially as it’s already been starved of essential nutrients.

“Light meals like daal (lentils) with rice or chapati made with wholemeal flour will fill you up and keep you going for longer.”

Dr Begum believes educating families about food and their health can go a long way to reducing the already large number of people who are suffering due to their calorie-laden diets.

“Once people know what kind of changes they need to make, they realise it’s not that hard and that they don’t have to give up curries.

“It’s the small changes that need to be made which will go along way to keeping a family healthy.”

The British Heart Foundation’s senior dietitian Victoria Taylor added: “South Asian men and women need to know that their middle-aged spread could be a warning. Excess weight around your middle can lead to health problems, including Type 2 diabetes. Small changes to your diet can really help with the battle against the bulge.

“Little things like substituting saturated fat-laden ghee for small amounts of rapeseed or sunflower oil really make a difference, and you don’t have to compromise on taste.”

As for me, I also plan to start with those ‘small changes’ and aim to have a kitchen cupboard full of healthy options and, of course, an even healthier diet.

Tweet