Kashmir's Health Time Bomb Is Already Ticking

Heart attacks at 25. Diabetes at 20. Depression before 16. A lifestyle-driven epidemic is silently destroying Kashmir's future, and no one's paying attention.

- Junaid Maqbool

A silent health crisis is unfolding across bedrooms, classrooms, and office cubicles in Kashmir. It creeps in through fatigue, mood swings, headaches, acne, and sleepless nights, often dismissed until it becomes too big to ignore.

And by the time most people realize what's wrong, they're already on medication.

We're talking about noncommunicable diseases (NCDs): heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cancers, hormonal disorders, and mental illnesses.

Across India, these conditions now account for 60% of all deaths. Globally, the toll is even higher - 74%, according to the World Health Organization.

But statistics don't capture the tragedy unfolding on the ground.

In Kashmir, a region already grappling with stress, unemployment, and political uncertainty, this new epidemic is sinking its roots deep into the younger generation.

You'd expect to find heart disease in a 60-year-old. Today, it's showing up in men under 30. You'd assume type 2 diabetes belongs to someone who's lived on sweets and cigarettes for decades. Today, teenagers are being diagnosed before they finish high school.

Girls are facing early puberty, irregular cycles, and PCOS in staggering numbers. Boys, too, are reporting chronic fatigue, hormonal imbalances, and mental fog, often misread as laziness or distraction.

The real culprit is a toxic mix of poor diet, screen addiction, sleep disruption, and constant low-grade stress.

Let's be specific.

Start with food. Home-cooked meals once built resilience in Kashmiri households. But now, shelves are stacked with instant noodles, processed snacks, and sugar-loaded drinks.