Forget the cake, take the stairs: Dr S K Sarin's advice on celebrating birthdays differently

Dr S K Sarin, chief of ILBS, New Delhi, urged people to mark birthdays by climbing five or six floors. His advice frames everyday milestones as prompts for consistent, healthier habits.Dr S K Sarin, Director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi at India Today Health Wealth Summit on Thursday.Noida,Oct 29, 2026 23:31 ISTWhat if your next birthday celebration involved climbing five or six floors instead of cutting a cake? Dr S K Sarin, Director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi, has a simple suggestion for making birthdays healthier. Use the occasion to get moving.Speaking at the India Today Health Wealth Summit during the session "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" on Thursday, Sarin said birthdays could be an opportunity to make healthier choices rather than revolve solely around cake and conventional celebrations. His suggestion was straightforward; take the stairs to the fifth or sixth floor to mark the occasion. The idea is to turn a personal milestone into a reminder to stay active and make health a part of everyday life.A BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOUR BODYBirthdays are often associated with cake, sweets, parties and elaborate meals. Sarin's suggestion offers a different way to look at the occasion -- an opportunity to do something beneficial for the body. Climbing stairs is a form of physical activity that engages the muscles and raises the heart rate. For people who can do it safely, choosing the stairs over a lift can be a simple way to incorporate more movement into the day.The suggestion is not about banning birthday cakes or giving up on celebrations. It is about changing the way people think about health and finding small, achievable ways to prioritise it. For someone who spends most of the day sitting at a desk, for instance, a birthday could be a prompt to start walking regularly, take the stairs more often or build a consistent exercise routine.Sarin's advice points to a larger issue. People often treat physical activity as something separate from their daily lives, rather than an essential part of their routine. A birthday, he suggested, can become a reminder to change that approach. Instead of making health a priority only after a medical problem develops, people can use everyday occasions to build healthier habits. The goal is consistency, not a single burst of activity once a year.- Ends