Obesity getting bigger in India: One in every four has a weight problem
India Today
Obesity is on the rise in India, with one out of every four people being overweight.
The prevalence of obesity among Indians increased in 2019-21 compared to 2015-16, as per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data. Nearly one in every four persons is overweight compared to one in every five earlier.
Obesity is calculated on the basis of a Body Mass Index (BMI). Anyone with a BMI of more than 30 is considered obese; a person with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is deemed overweight.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016. Obesity, once considered a problem in wealthy nations, is shifting in low and middle-income countries.
According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, 5.02 million people died prematurely in 2019 due to obesity, nearly six times the number that died from HIV/AIDS that year. Worldwide, more than eight per cent of all deaths in 2019 happened due to obesity. It was only four per cent in 1990.
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The percentage of obese men between the ages of 15 and 49 increased to 23 per cent from 19 per cent. Among women, the number jumped from 21 per cent to 24 per cent.
Per the survey’s findings, there was a direct correlation between age and obesity — and it was the same for both men and women. The ratio of thin men and women decreased with age. However, it was the opposite for obese persons.
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