About Book

This book is about Public Health and Nutrition in Pakistan. This area of nutrition is a new and emerging field in Pakistan. In addition, some books written on this subject are mostly dealing with suggesting what to eat to become healthier but they are not evidence based. This book is based on the studies conducted by the author himself which are already published in international peer reviewed journals. In this book, the author has evaluated the traditional dietary patterns of Pakistanis by providing their nutritional composition to give reader an idea about the health implications of these foods. In addition, author has discussed extensively about the change in dietary habits of people and their determinants like culture and migration. This book can help readers with understanding the conceptual basis of traditional dietary patterns, nutrition transition and their relation with diseases.South Asians including Pakistanis have higher risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases even at the same body weight as compared to other ethnicities. Both genetics and lifestyle factors are at play in determining the risk of diseases among this population. Diet is one of these lifestyle factors. Historically, Pakistani households consume a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains, pulses, meat and dairy products. In the modern era, with the advent of processed foods there has been increase in the use of fast food, beverages containing sugars, fruit juices, bakery products and use of processed oil for cooking. These modern changes which are the result of cultural shifts are increasing the diseases among this population. In addition, migration from one country to another country also brings the shift in dietary patterns which can be a predictor of diseases. This book explores the old school dietary habits of Pakistanis and unravels its nutritional benefits and downsides; alongside the book also looks at the cultural shift in dietary habits of Pakistanis living inside and outside Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention that dietary habits have a big role to play in determining the risk of diseases like overweight, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.

About Author

Dr. Qaisar Raza, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Faculty of Bio-Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore–Pakistan. He has completed his B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture, major subject as Food Technology in 2004 and M.Sc. (Hons.) Food Science and Technology in 2006 from National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad–Pakistan. He also completed his Masters in Public Health from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Dr. Qaisar has earned PhD in Public Health Nutrition from Vrije Universiteit (Free University) Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is also a Postdoc Fellow in the department of Health Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In his Doctorate studies, he explored the dietary patterns of the South Asians in relation to non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity and hypercholesterolemia. He has also studied the processes of migration, dietary acculturation and epidemiology of diseases among the South Asians including Pakistanis. He has written six peer reviewed research papers in well-known scientific journals with good impact factor. Dr. Qaisar has also presented his scientific work in 7 national and international conferences worldwide including New Zealand, Australia and Portugal. So far, he has produced around 8 postgraduate students under his supervision. His research interest areas are Diet, Non-communicable diseases, dietary acculturation and epidemiology.