"Currently, diseases that commonly impact adults are affecting children. Hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke are cardiometabolic diseases that are very dangerous in children; so, preventive steps are needed," IDAI chairperson Piprim Basarah Yanuarso said during the IDAI National Symposium here on Friday.
He explained that cardiometabolic diseases in children usually occur due to an unhealthy lifestyle, so the main way to overcome them is adopting healthy behaviors.
"This lifestyle disease can be overcome only by lifestyle changes; it cannot be cured with drugs. So, from an early age, children must be invited to adopt a healthy lifestyle," he said.
Healthy lifestyle practices that can be applied from an early age to prevent cardiometabolic diseases include increasing physical activity, getting enough sleep, consuming healthy foods, and increasing water consumption.
"We must do the prevention from upstream level by getting children to live a healthy lifestyle, because it will be cheaper and easier. At the downstream level, the cost of handling at the hospital will be more expensive, then the state health insurer's (BPJS') burden of handling patients with these diseases will be higher," he explained.
He said that if the public does not anticipate these diseases, the health of the future generation will be endangered.
"In Indonesia, in addition to dealing with new infectious diseases, there is also an alarming risk of non-communicable diseases. If they are not anticipated, the quality of health will be worrying," he added.
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Translator: Ruth, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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