Priya Prakash: Making healthy beginnings

Image: Aditi Tailang

Priya Prakash | 28
Founder and CEO, HealthSetGo

As a child and teenager, Priya Prakash was overweight, and was relentlessly made fun of and bullied by her classmates. “It was gruelling at times, as people would always make fun of me and I had learnt to accept that my life wasn’t going to change,” says Prakash.

But life did take a turn when she enrolled at a gymnasium soon after graduating from college. Today, she presents a stark contrast to her former self, working out every day, and has even won a silver medal at the Delhi State Weightlifting Championship in her category.

But the wounds inflicted by the emotional trauma of her childhood never quite healed.

It prompted her to start HealthSetGo, a New Delhi-based health care organisation, in 2016 that provides schools with health programmes, education, medical assessments and insurance services. By charging a subscription fee that ranges from ₹500 to ₹1,100 per student, HealthSetGo also conducts annual medical check-ups at schools, the reports of which are sent to parents through the company’s proprietary app. 

“A student spends over a decade in school and it is great to provide interventions when needed and teach them about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle,” says Prakash. “Apart from eyesight and obesity issues, we have also uncovered heart issues in children.”

The company trains teachers on health education, and has turned its attention to spotting macroeconomic trends and policy advocacy on health care for children. It has also begun setting up centres in schools with a full-time nurse. 

See the full Forbes India 30 Under 30 list for 2020 here

HealthSetGo has a clientele of 200 schools across the country. Entirely bootstrapped, the team is looking to target 1 million children by 2023. “What Priya has managed to do is digitise the health records of students, allowing parents and the school to constantly monitor them,” says Uttara Singh, director, Shriram Millennium School group. “That helps us plan meals better and take other corrective measures.”