New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Developing a culture of health literacy and self-care in youth may help prevent the early onset of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension obesity and cancers, in India, said public health experts here on Tuesday.

The experts spoke at the third International Conference on Public Health and Nutrition (ICPHN 2025), organised by non-profit Sukarya.

Dr. Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, Nutrition and Adolescent Health, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, underscored the national mission’s focus on preventive health and behavioural change.

“We are witnessing a paradigm shift. Our effort is not just to treat illness but to prevent the early onset of non-communicable diseases by creating a culture of health literacy and self-care among young people,” Rizvi said.

“The aim is to reach every state and every adolescent with programmes that don’t just prescribe solutions but enable ownership of health,” she added.

Speaking to IANS, Meera Satpathy, Founder & Chairperson, Sukarya, informed that the conference is focussed on “adolescent health”, which includes their physical health, mental health, nutrition, behavioural problems, etc.

Calling adolescents “the biggest force in India”, Satpathy urged the need to take care of their health early.

“Kishore and Kishoriyan have a lot of problems. When they are young, we want to take care of them. If they don’t take care of their health, then it becomes a burden for life. We want a good, healthy, and strong India,” she told IANS.

Bonita Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, Social Changemakers and Innovators (SOCHAI), Kathmandu, Nepal, spoke on the need to promote balanced nutrition.

“Currently, young people in developing countries are facing the triple burden of malnutrition. They are underweight, overweight, and obese. There is also the problem of anaemia, also known as hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiency,” Sharma told IANS.

“The key solution that has been discussed so far is using school as an entry point to build a foundation for the health and well-being of adolescents,” she said, adding the need to also focus on the implementation gap in policies.

“There are a lot of great policies and programmes, but when it comes to implementing them on the ground, there are a lot of challenges. Ensuring there is a strong monitoring mechanism is also an idea that has been discussed,” Sharma said.

–IANS

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