PAU Observes World Heart Day

Ludhiana, October 1, 2015: The Department of Food and Nutrition, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) observed the “World Heart Day” today. On the occasion, Dr Jatinder Kishtwaria, Dean, College of Home Science, PAU inaugurated the exhibition, which was put up by the students of B.Sc. (Hons.) Nutrition and Dietetics 3-year and 4-year. She appreciated the efforts of the department in organizing the awareness drive on World Heart Day.

Dr Anita Kochhar, Head, Department of Food and Nutrition, emphasized the role of diet in the prevention of Cardio-vascular diseases. She said the focus was on creating a heart healthy environment, ensuring that people make heart healthy choices wherever they live, work or play. She further added the exhibition showcased heart healthy functional foods such as oats, garlic, green tea, almonds, walnuts, olive oil, rice bran oil which can be included in the daily recipes like veggie oats, sprouted chat, multigrain chilla, hung curd sandwich, apple smoothie and oats idli.

Dr Sonika Sharma, Assistant Professor, Food and Nutrition, under whose guidance the exhibition was organized, said the simple heart healthy choices like physical activity, healthy diet, regular check up and stress reduction were depicted in the form of models. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and its types, risk factors, symptoms, the food groups and the functional foods were displayed through charts and posters, she told. The Body Mass Index (risk factors for Cardio-vascular disease) was also carried out.