Obesity Epidemic

Obesity Epidemic

News: Recently, the new Lancet study finds out that India is sitting on obesity curve.

Key Findings:
• The Lancet study shows that India could be facing an obesity epidemic particularly among the younger population.
• Obesity among children
o The study found that around 12.5 million children (7.3 million boys and 5.2 million girls) in the country, aged between five and 19, were grossly overweight in 2022. This figure is up from 0.4 million in 1990.
o The report also showed that the prevalence among children and teens is more than three per cent, an increase of over three percentage points from 1990.
• Obesity among adults
o The study finds that the obesity prevalence among female is increasing sharply. The
o Women had a 9.8 per cent prevalence, an increase of 8.6 percentage points from 1990.
o Among men, this number stood at 5.4 per cent, an increase of 4.9 percentage points.

Importance of study to India:
• The study gains significance as India is already having a high burden of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, strokes and diabetes.
• It reveals that 44 million women and 26 million men aged above 20 in India were found to be obese, this figure being 2.4 million women and 1.1 million men in 1990.
• India ranks 182 among 197 countries for the prevalence of obesity in women and 180 for men in 2022.
• India ranked 174 in the world for both girls and boys.
• Obesity is a major risk factor and a trigger for early onset of diseases like heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and even Type 2 diabetes among teens.