Author: Sameed Chaudhary

Most Pakistanis don’t overeat because they lack willpower. They overeat because the portions served at home, at weddings, and at roadside dhabas are genuinely enormous — and nobody taught them what a reasonable amount actually looks like on a plate. According to the Pakistan National Health Survey 2023, over 40% of Pakistani adults are overweight or obese, with the rate rising fastest in urban women between 25 and 45. Yet the most common advice people receive is to “eat less” — which tells you nothing about how much less, or how to apply that to a plate of daal chawal…

Most people in Pakistan glance at the front of a packet, see words like “natural” or “low fat,” and put it in the trolley. The actual numbers on the back stay unread. That habit is worth changing, because those numbers tell a very different story. Packaged food consumption in Pakistan has grown sharply over the last decade, with instant noodles, breakfast cereals, flavoured yogurts, and biscuits now common in households from Karachi to Peshawar. Per Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce SRO issued in 2019, imported packaged foods must carry nutritional information in both Urdu and English, which means the information is…

New parents in Pakistan often hear it from a dadi or nani first: “dant nikal rahe hain” — the teeth are coming. And with that announcement comes a wave of advice, some helpful, some outdated, and some that can actually harm your baby. Knowing what teething really looks like, and what it does not look like, is one of the most useful things you can learn in your baby’s first year. Teething, or dant nikalna in Urdu, is the process by which a baby’s primary teeth (also called milk teeth or doodh ke dant) push up through the gum line.…

Every Pakistani parent knows the scene: a plate of daal chawal sits untouched while a three-year-old demands plain roti and nothing else. Picky eating in kids is one of the most common feeding concerns parents bring to paediatricians, and it can leave families exhausted, anxious, and unsure of what to do. The frustration is real, but so is the reassurance. Most children go through a phase of selective eating, and many do grow out of it. The challenge for parents is knowing what is normal, what actually helps, and when the fussiness crosses a line that needs professional attention. This…

Many Pakistani parents notice at some point that their child’s weight has stayed the same for weeks, or that the growth chart at the clinic shows a worrying plateau. It’s one of the most common reasons families visit a paediatrician, and the anxiety it brings is completely understandable. The scale of the problem in Pakistan is real. According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2017-18), over 23% of children under five years were underweight, and the Global Nutrition Report places Pakistan’s under-5 stunting rate at 37.6%, well above the regional average for Asia. These numbers reflect a mix of…

Quick Answer Neck and shoulder pain from desk work is almost always caused by poor posture, a badly set-up workstation, and staying still for too long. The most effective fixes combine three things: adjusting your screen and chair height, doing short movement breaks every 30 minutes, and building a daily routine of neck and shoulder stretches. Most people see noticeable improvement within one to two weeks of consistent changes. If the pain shoots into your arm, causes numbness, or does not ease after two to three weeks, see a doctor. Most office workers in Pakistan spend six to nine hours…

Chai is the one thing most Pakistani households agree on. Whether it’s the first cup after Fajr, the mid-morning break at the office, or the ritual glass offered to every guest, tea is woven into daily life in a way no other drink is. What most people don’t realise is how much those cups add up. A typical Pakistani doesn’t drink one cup a day — it’s closer to three to five. And unlike the plain black tea a British person might sip, our chai comes loaded with full-fat milk and at least one or two teaspoons of sugar. The…

Pakistan runs on chai. Morning, afternoon, after dinner — the kettle is always on. But every June, the same debate starts: is garam chai in garmi actually doing you harm, or is it one of those things that sounds wrong but turns out to be fine? The honest answer sits somewhere in the middle. Chai in summer can be perfectly fine — even beneficial — depending on how much you drink, how strong you make it, and, critically, where in Pakistan you are. A cup of doodh patti in Lahore’s dry June heat is a different story from three kadak…

Your twenties in Pakistan feel like a sprint. University deadlines, first jobs, weddings every other weekend, late night chai with friends, and family expectations that never quite ease up. Somewhere in this rush, your own health quietly drops off the list. That is exactly why a proper health checklist for Pakistani women in their 20s matters more than most women realise. The Urdu word for health is صحت (sehat), and a yearly صحت کی فہرست (sehat ki fehrist) can prevent most of the health surprises Pakistani women face in their 30s. Quick Answer A health checklist for Pakistani women in…

Most Pakistanis underestimate how much sleep they actually need. A cup of chai after Isha, a few reels before bed, and suddenly it’s 1 AM when the alarm is set for 6. That pattern has consequences that go well beyond feeling groggy in the morning. Sleep is not passive downtime. The brain consolidates memory, the body repairs tissue, and hormones that regulate appetite and immunity are released almost entirely during sleep. Miss enough of it regularly, and those systems start to fail in ways that show up as weight gain, poor concentration, low mood, and higher blood pressure. A 2022…