About 250-300 people, including children and adults, took part in the event, which was held in Sector 29, Gurgaon, on April 9.
HealthSetGo, an organisation focussed on student health and well-being in schools, on the occasion of World Health Day organised a marathon to spread awareness about depression, this year's theme. About 250-300 people, including children and adults, took part in the event, which was held in Sector 29, Gurgaon, on April 9.
The event focused on spreading positivity as a tool to help overcome depression. Schoolchildren from Class IV to XII participated in a 1-km-long run along with their parents, while adults ran a distance of four km.
Participants carried posters and placards with messages about how to fight depression. After their run, kids participated in a drawing competition on 'Overcoming Obstacles'. A health carnival was also organised after the run, where psychologists talked about depression and ways to overcome it.
Speaking on the occasion, Priya Prakash, founder of HealthSetGo, said, “With HealthSetGo, we want to empower schools with a programme that takes care not only of children's education but also their mental and physical health. We want to create awareness about depression among adults and children. Mental health is not talked about enough, whereas statistics reveal that 36 per cent of the country is suffering from Depression. As a society, it’s time we start focussing on prioritising healthier living.”
Laxman Kumar, a resident of sector 17 and the winner of the marathon among adults, told City Spidey, “It was a memorable day for me. My daughter Kriti bagged the first position and my son Kartik came third in the children's race. It was a great event and such events should be organised more often. We learnt a lot about depression and methods to overcome it.”
According to a World Health Organisation report published this year, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Though known to be the second leading cause of death among those who fall in the age group of 15 to 30, it continues to remain a stigma. The theme of this year’s World Health Day is depression. According to a World Health Organisation report on suicides, India has a very high rate of 15 per 1,00,000 population, with states in southern India high on the list. The number of suicides in 2015 in Tamil Nadu was 22 in 2015 and 43 in Puducherry. 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the youth in 2015 were found to be suffering from depression, which was one of the major reasons for people committing suicide. A whopping 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, while 50 million people in India face the same problem.
