Venkaiah Naidu lauds NGO offering advice on nutrition, yoga

A clinic functioning from the premises of a mosque here by an NGO propagating yoga as a measure to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCD) has won praise from Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday. According to Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation, the clinic, providing primary health care and information on nutrition and yoga, was catering to about 200 people daily.

Free treatment was provided to all, regardless of caste and creed, and the intention is to send a positive message about communal harmony, about peace, he said. Appreciating Askari for making efforts to build a healthy society, Naidu tweeted that everybody should make yoga a part of their life.

Yoga was a part of the Indian tradition and not related to any religion. "It is a great tool which provides relief by unifying body and the mind," he tweeted in Telugu.

Located in the ground floor of a mosque, the clinic which started the NCD wing three months ago uses a World Health Organisation (WHO) form with various parameters to determine those at the risk of being affected by diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, Askari said. Many people found it difficult to undertake walking as a form of physical exercise in view of congestion of roads, he said. Hence, Yoga was taught with the help of charts and those who receive the information go home and practice, he said. We are giving YouTube links (on exercises), Askari said adding diet and nutrition counseling was a major focus area.