A person who stayed out in the sun, worked on his crops, drank water fresh from the stream, came back to a mud house which was cool, ate unprocessed food and never needed supplements or medicines — he was a healthy Indian in an idyllic rural scene. Cut across to today and you would find the exact opposite. The man drives to work, stays chained to his office desk, sits in an office where the temperature and the environment is controlled, grabs a pizza or a burger for food and gulps down RO bottled water along with supplements and/or some medicines. Lifestyle has undergone a drastic change which in turn has affected our health as well.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), overall, about 13 per cent of the world’s adult population (11 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women) was obese in 2016. The worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016. The global prevalence of diabetes among adults has risen from 4.7 per cent in 1980 to 8.5 per cent in 2014. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and nearly one in six deaths are due to cancer.

Emerging research demonstrates that our diet, pollution and other environmental factors can alter the function and expression of human genes and lead to a heightened disease risk. The genes are turned “on” or “off” depending on the exposure to chemicals in the environment. Environment induces changes in the gene expression, functions of cells and thus, a person’s predisposition to disease.

Sujay Ojha, advisor, Weather Risk Management Services Pvt Ltd, says, “These changes are inheritable, meaning they can be passed on from parent cell to daughter cell within the body, and from parent to child. This is clearly evident from the survivors and the later generations of the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The nuclear radiation of the atom bombs that were dropped in August 1945 during World War II adversely affected the survivors as well as the future generations. Many children are born with birth defects, mental retardation and increased cancer risk till date.”

Another classic case is that of the Bhopal Gas tragedy. On a cold December night of 1984, Bhopal was struck by one of the worst industrial disasters when 40 tonnes of poisonous Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory, killing over 1700 and affecting more than 5 lakh people. Thirty-three years later, its effects are still visible in the children and grandchildren of those who survived. In a nutshell, the choices we make in life, the food we eat, the air we breathe — all influence our internal world of expressed genes. This clearly indicates that our environment impacts our genes and the changes are heritable in nature. Says Ojha, “The environment and the climate change contributes to the genetic build up. All living entities have a genetic code. The environment plays a huge role in the adaptation of the genetics. The climate influences everything in the animal and plant kingdom.” He also points out that as the population increases the demand for food increases as well. This can lead to deforestation. So there is adaptation on both sides which can be seen in man taking over forests and the monkey menace in many cities as their natural habitat has been taken away. So there is a need to maximise the output. Similarly harnessing water is important because this too is a precious resource.

On the other side, the cattle health and reproductive cycle has to be monitored to maximise the output. He also suggests that there should be an increased interaction between man and nature and sensibility towards animal and plant kingdom which would help in better appreciating the food that we eat. He goes on to add that we need to appreciate the food being brought to the table. “There should be an increased interaction with agriculture where children are taught to be better citizens at school level and so on,” he says. In the cities, we should work towards switching back to traditional ways of temperature control and opt for a less device-controlled environment. “There should be buildings with double walls and more light and fresh air, reducing the load on electricity and at the same time getting the body used to a less controlled environment,” says Ojha.

Moreover, everything we do, mostly causes pollution — from driving cars to building a house, almost everything done by us is not eco-friendly. Pollution is created by the most destructive thing ever, humans. Only we can stop it. Pollution causes diseases and extinction of a wide variety of species of flora and fauna. It harms the ecosystems, the food chains and water cycles. Basically, it harms everything we are living for. The time is indeed ripe for the Fifth Industrial Revolution in which only eco-friendly technologies should be used.