Written by: Pragati Ojha
First of all, we need to find what actually lifestyle signifies. The way of living of the people of a particular region (geographical), a nation or a social group; their dressing, food habits etc. It clearly refers to the practices of inhabitants of a region in a particular place and a time frame. The behavior of an individual, his/her functions, activities, and recreation also comes under the domain of our subject of interest i.e. lifestyle.
As we march triumphantly towards 21st century with the glitters of satellites, supercomputers, and sophisticated technologies which includes the smartphones and the various modern gadgets, life seems to become ‘a bed of roses’. The old order has indeed changed, providing place to the new. It has certainly left an impact over the lifestyle of the people, today. Visible changes like elegant dressing, fashionable hairstyles, preference for pop music and ultramodern amenities has become the part and partial of modern man. There is a craze for the lifestyle prevailing in the ‘west’ , it’s music, food, culture – in short anything bearing the tag of modern (so called) civilization and it finds a ready market even in remote areas. In all these show offs and snobberies we forgot to pause for a while to think over the evil effects of adopting this alien lifestyle.
Now a days, for certain winds of change are passing through every sphere of activity in science and technology, trade and transport, sports, commerce and obviously education too. Industrialization and urbanization are dominating the lives of people today. Life has become more cozy and comfortable as the gifts of modernization like the television, computers, robots, airplanes etc. lie scattered around us.
Like every coin has two faces, similarly, we can experience the adverse impacts of these changes. Following an unhealthy lifestyle by vast masses today, is leading to many metabolic diseases, hypertension, obesity etc. Numerous cardio-vascular diseases also are taking birth as the outcomes of our way of living. Hence, now it’s proven a fact that health and lifestyle are the two things that go hand in hand.
Now a days, broad changes have occurred in life of all people. Either it be a child aged 6-8 years, an adolescent of 14-16 years or an adult above 25 years, everyone is experiencing similar physical as well as mental issues. One of the prime reasons behind these is the imitation of consanguineous lifestyle in various geographical boundaries of the world. The same is leading humankind to various genetic disorders, illness, disability and even deaths. Small children at a large number are being the prey to nutrition. Every society, roughly is habituated of smoking, consuming alcohol, drug abuse and so on. Specially adolescents are exposed very early to obscenity, vulgarity, drugs and sexual abuses. Youngsters try to fill the space caused by lack of parental care and affection at home by obtaining various pleasures such as dating, drugs and drinks.
At the end of these all pleasures they are surrounded by immense frustration on their minds and they realize that the crowd outside their homes either it be beaches, pubs, clubs or party houses is not their company. Lust has taken the place of love. The cup of materialism is full and overflowing but the cup of cultural and spiritual pleasure is sadly empty. Combined family bonds that has been obsolete now a days and is superseded by broken homes, ruined lives and an insecure existence of human beings as we boast our modernization.
In the race of so called ‘development’, ‘industrialization’, ‘modernization’ and all other technological advancements, we have lost our path and motive of these necessities and now the “wisest species” on earth is exposed to the threat of its own ruining and extinction. We have become the unaware slaves of these inventions of science and created a net of artificiality all around.
The emergence of new technologies within IT sector such as internet and virtual communication networks is leading our world to a major challenge that threatens the physical and mental health of individuals. The overuse and misuse of these technological advancements today is a major cause of concern. If we look to categorize the influence of the lifestyle of ours in today’s scenario, physically it has affected the health. Poor diet and its consequences like obesity is the common health problem of the modern men or so called ‘urban societies’. If we see the BMI (i.e. Body Mass Index) of ten people (children or adult), surely 8 or 9 of them have the problem of inadequacy in it. Excessive intake of junk foods like pizzas, burgers, noodles etc. is leading us to various cardio-vascular diseases. We do not have ample of time for exercise or yoga in this pseudo urban lifestyle. One of the bases of healthy life is sleep. Modern societies are suffering from sleep disorders and clear influences on mental as well as physical health can be traced.
How can our sexual behavior be untouched by the influences of our lifestyle. Dysfunction of sex relation is the problem amongst most of the societies and it, significantly affects our mental as well as physical health. Because of dysfunctional sex relations there are various sex related illness like AIDS, STDs etc. Smoking is the biggest addiction today. Throughout the globe, It has affected the children and adults, men and women aged from 14 to 65 years (approx.). It is the cause of various heart diseases, asthma, lung cancer, throat cancer, brain injuries etc. Unhealthy behaviors in using medication, its excessive intake, using medication without prescription, prescribing too many drugs, its unnecessary quantity is also leading the people towards various fatal diseases.
Now, coming to the most common addiction i.e. mobile phones and excessive use of internet and computers till late night is affecting the pattern of our sleep and even disturbing it. Misuse of this advancement in technology has many unpleasant consequences. We must adjust a few time from our busy schedule for recreation purposes.
On a concluding note, we need to assess ourselves (i.e. the “so called” urban societies) for the sake of our own healthy existence. We must pause for a while and try to look back upon things that are necessary and which were the part and parcel in early days i.e. before the introduction of need for industrialization and modernization. We need to drag the best from our past and hence improve our present in order to secure our ‘endangered existence’ in future.
