From ‘Wazwaan’

or main + side + soft drink. With easy availability and affordable prices, it attracts a lot young population (in their 20’s and early 30’s) who consume it the most,” Rather said.

Kashmir Observer also spoke to several restaurant owners in different localities of Srinagar who said the mostly ordered food nowadays includes momos, chicken fried rice, pizzas, spring rolls and burgers. “We receive around 80 orders on an average per day. It’s mostly the teenagers, college and University going students who frequent our restaurant,” 31-year-old Mubashirul-Aslam, owner of Kashiraq restaurant in Chanapora area, Srinagar said.

Aslam said, the food delivery services have been gaining popularity in the valley over the last few years. This has had a significant impact on the way people consume food and their food habits. From being able to order food from the comfort of your home to being able to sample a variety of cuisines, delivery services are changing the way people eat in Kashmir.

A staffer at ‘Gatoes’, a local food and delivery service tied with over 300 plus restaurants in Srinagar said that every day on an average, each delivery boy is assigned 15-20 orders. Out of which 90 percent ordered food is pizzas,” he said.

According to a Statista report, the number of users across the meal delivery market in India is estimated to reach 346.6 Mn by 2028. This anticipated surge in user numbers has transformed online food aggregation and delivery into a highly lucrative segment, attracting new players and investors.

The reports also show that the combined monthly app downloads of Zomato and Swiggy averaged 7.6 Mn and reached a total of 83.5 Mn between January and November 2023. Zomato led with 47.5 Mn downloads (56.9%), while Swiggy recorded 36 Mn (43.1%).

It is worth noting that the Swiggy app covers its grocery services (Instamart) and restaurant deals and discovery (Dineout) vertical besides food delivery.

Health implications of fast food

The rise of food delivery services has had both positive and negative effects on health. While, it has made it easier for people to access multiple cuisines at affordable prices, on the other hand, it has exposed them to various lifestyle disorders.

Studies show that the apps are designed in such a way that a customer spends as much money as possible – and probably hasn’t thought twice about it. “The food delivery apps tend to work on two levels: to attract you to the app in the first place, by offering a discount code or voucher for the first order, providing free delivery on the first order, or offering a limited-time promotion for new users; to influence how you behave while using the app, such as offering discounts on specific restaurants or foods to change what you buy.

“The apps promote specific restaurants or food categories in prominent positions on the platform to attract your attention (e.g., in a “featured” section). With the result, they make it more difficult to be healthy, for example making it difficult for you to inform your food choices through calorie labels,” the study stated.

The results of this fast-food consumption are clearly seen. The prevalence of systemic hypertension among children appears to be increasing in Kashmir especially in view of the growing population of children with obesity and increasing survival of neonates after getting critical care for weeks and increasing screening of blood pressure in routine outpatient visits.

Dr. Rabbanie Tariq, Preventive Medicine Physician promoting Lifestyle Medicine in Kashmir said they have come across a number of patients from the child and adolescent group who had elevated blood pressure diagnosed by a pediatrician.

“They were referred for Lifestyle Modifications relevant to their risk factors responsible for the onset of hypertension. A lot of times hypertension is discovered as a coincidental finding in patients,” Rabbanie said.

He said there are multiple factors responsible for the increase in the frequency of hypertension in this age group. “In addition, to the secondary Hypertension for which certain organic causes are responsible which can be related to a certain organ or endocrine issues. There are more important reasons too. Habits are inculcated from the external environment.