Risingbd Online Bangla News Portal

Dhaka     Saturday   27 April 2024

Women 3 times prone to obesity than men

Manzurul Alam Mukul || risingbd.com

Published: 02:34, 26 July 2015   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
Women 3 times prone to obesity than men

Risingbd Desk: That urban India is weightier than its rural counterpart is well known, but a new study quantifies this divide further by saying that obesity is three times more among city residents than rural Indians.

The study, which appeared in the International Journal of Public Health last week, said that Indian women were 2.71 times more prone than men to put on weight. "There does seem to be some amount of gender divide in obesity," said senior endocrinologist Dr S Joshi, adding, "The growing gadgetization of Indian households has increased the risk of Indian urban women becoming overweight."


Indeed, most tasks in Indian homes are increasingly becoming digitized; many tasks such as cooking or washing clothes can be done at the click of a button.


Other Indian studies had also shown that rural women have a higher NEAT score in comparison to women living in urban cities. "NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis or a score of the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. While rural women have consistently shown a NEAT score of 2,000, the number is around 700 for urban women," he said.


Delhi-based endocrinologist Dr Anoop Misra said, "About 10% of adult Indian women are overweight or obese, but the figure is about 30% in urban cities. Furthermore, women who have abdominal obesity are going to be even more prevalent, nearly 50 to 70%." In the general population, it is estimated that one out of 10 Indians is obese with a body mass index of over 24 (see box). But four out of 10 urban Indians have abdominal obesity that is a precursor to many chronic diseases.

Obesity is increasingly being recognized as one of the biggest public health challenges, mainly because it has a direct correlation with the person`s risk of developing a host of other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart as well as infertility problems. Countries across the world are working out health policies including bans on sugar-sweetened beverages or reduction of transfats and salt in packaged foods. Mexico, where 32% of the grown-up population is obese, has started offering free metro rides to people doing 10 squats.

In India, however, the awareness about obesity and its health effects is still low. "High-risk estimates for overweight/obesity in urban settings along with socioeconomic prowess in India and the resulting nutritional transition make a compelling case for public health policy on healthy lifestyles to avert the growing burden of non-communicable diseases associated with overweight/obesity," said the study which appeared in the International Journal of Public Health.

Dr Misra, who is the director of the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, said that it`s time India drafted a policy to control obesity. "It should target women because it will not only improve their metabolic state, but also have a multiplier effect on their families. Such a step will have a transgenerational effect. For this, every effort should be made to educate them at young age."

Source: Times of India


Risingbd/July 26, 2015/Mukul

risingbd.com