Recent ICMR–INDIAB data reveal that over 84% of adults in Kashmir are physically inactive, one of the highest rates recorded in the country. Obesity has soared by nearly 250 percent since 2010, and diabetes is rising sharply on both sides of the Pir Panjal – 7.8 percent in the Valley and nearly 19 percent in Jammu. These aren’t abstract numbers.

At the same time, a disturbing trend haunts Kashmir’s hospitals: young people in their 30s and 40s arriving with heart attacks. One-in-five cardiac patients in the Valley is under 45. In winter, cases double. Years of conflict,........

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