Prevalence of Obesity In India
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Gurpreet Dhaliwal Rahil Siddique

WHO view on obesity
•WHO describes obesity as today's one of the most neglected health problems, affecting every region
of the globe
•Even affecting lower class people these days.
•India is one of the most populated countries in the world ( 2nd behind china).
•Its unique as it presents both sides of nutritional status ( overweight and underweight)
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•Both sides of nutritional status varies from region to region •Took some time to overcome severe
food shortages until the early 1960s known as Green revolution where better methods were adopted
and showed mindboggling results
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•Still areas with BMI <18.5kg/m2 (mainly rural areas )
•Regions with BMI>25kg/m2 (Obese/underweight)
•Interesting thing here is that studies were done by National Family Health Survey, they saw the %
of married women (aged 15-49), who are overweight and obese has increased from 11% (NFHS-2) to 15%
(NFHS-3)
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•Obesity is 3 times higher in urban regions than rural. •This is double edge sword thing. Here
health status ( disease) play role, but cultural and society issues play major role. •Women with 12
or more years of schooling are 3 times higher.
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•Percentage of obese women were high in rich urban states such as Punjab (30%), Kerela (28%), Delhi
(26%)
•Prevalence is also affected by wealth index, age, education .
•India is one the fastest growing economies in the world ( it is estimated to have one of the
highest GDP (7.1%)
•Source:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/263617/gross-domestic-product-gdp-growth-rate-in-india/
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Table showing states ranking in Obesity
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Socioeconomic factors
•Studies were done in South India and it has shown, the prevalence of obesity has increased 1.7
fold.
•Also affecting rural areas
•Reasons? Transport facilities, inc family income, better health facilities, easy access to tv,
gadgets.
•BMI studies done now compared to 1989. The prevalence rose from 2% to 17.1%
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Childhood obesity
•Various health risks:  CVD, Diab, Arthrits, Inc in mortality.
•India: prevalence of obesity is between 10-30%
•Ludhiana ( Punjab aka: called Louisiana of Punjab). Age group age 11-17 : 11.6% as compared to
rural counterpart (4.7%)
•Low levels of physical activity, junk food, home delivery is massive problem.
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How to solve this
•Tough to accomplish these days as food is everywhere around •Inc in physical activity, atelast 20
mins brisk walking, yoga, more veggies and less fried food. •Government needs to take charge (
impose tough norms on food companies which is probably a long shot)

References
•https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution_in_India
•http://www.jmnn.org/article.asp?issn=2278-1870;year=2012;volume=1;issue=1;spage=37;epage=41;aulast
=Kalra#ft1
•Obesity in India: The weight of the nation Kalra S ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2017, from
http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=94E544FC244F48BB9E65C2C1E762CD3C&CID=0DC9FD87722A6FDA1E1DF6D073856EE3&rd=
1&h=h_VCwfP-9cKiCMSbANvFsHa6J_A5USx0hVL6yqAczsE&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jmnn.org%2farticle.asp%3fiss
n%3d2278-1870%3byear%3d2012%3bvolume%3d1%3bissue%3d1%3bspage%3d37%3bepage%3d41%3baulast%3dKalra&p=D
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