New initiative to tackle NCDs among youth launched, one lakh college students to be screened

Chennai, Sept. 4 -- Apollo SHINE Foundation, the not-for-profit arm of Apollo Hospitals,today launched Catch 'Em Young, India's largest college health initiative aimed at preventingand tackling the growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among youth.

The initiative was formally launched at the Women's Christian College in the city in thepresence of Tamil Nadu Higher Educaton Minister Govi Chezhian, MLA Dr. EzhilanNaganathan, among others.

The findings from SHINE's decade-long college screenings have raised an urgent red flag.

Nearly 42% of students screened were overweight or obese, 4.5% showed elevated bloodpressure, 2.2% had high blood sugar levels, and one in ten students had high triglycerides.

Alarmingly, 30% of students...