Thiruvananthapu ram: Knocking the bottom out of a prevailing perception
that Kerala women are healthier and shapelier, a recent study has found that
obesity is much higher among women in the State compared to the all-India
average.
A study done by the Centre for Socioeconomic and Environmental Studies based on
National Family Health Survey 3 shows that Kerala women are second only to their
counterparts in Punjab in terms of being obese or overweight.
In all, 28.1 percent of women in the age group from 15 to 49 in Kerala were
overweight while in Punjab it was slightly higher at 29.9. Those with a body
mass index (BMI) at 25 or more are considered overweight.
But in the 25-29.9 BMI group, 23.1 percent of Kerala women were overweight
beating Punjab which had only 20.8 percent in the same category. For those with
a BMI equal to or more than 30, it was 9.1 percent in Punjab and 5 percent in
Kerala.
Kerala had 53.9 women in the desirable BMI level between 18.5 and 24.9. The
average all-India average BMI was 20.5 as against 22.6 for Kerala and 22.9
Punjab. More than 70 percent women in the northeast, barring Assam and Tripura,
were in the healthy BMI group.
The study done by N Ajith Kumar and D Radha Devi of the CSES also found that
obesity was more prevalent among women compared to men. Obesity created health
problems and needed to get the attention of health and policy planners. Mental
health of women was yet another issue of this kind which had a gender dimension.
Dr
Ajith Kumar is director at the CSES and Prof Radha Devi was formerly the head of
the Department of Population Policies and Programmes at the International
Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS).
They pointed out that the traditional thinking that the sex ratio should ideally
be skewed towards more females than males was modified in favor of equality. The
sex ratio of 1058 females per 1000 males in Kerala or that of 933 females per
1000 males in India in 2001 differed from the equality in sex ratio.
The availability of more females in Kerala could be due partially to the
emigration of more males than females and the higher survival rate of females
compared to males. In any case, it implied that that there were more women in
Kerala than men.
There was a wide gap between the life expectancy of females and males in Kerala.
Since women are genetically programmed to have comparatively lower mortality,
life expectancy at birth should be high for women compared to that of men.
The projections made by the Expert Committee on Population Projections
constituted by the Planning Commission show that in another 20 years, women in
Kerala will be living on an average 79 years and men 75 years. This is an
offshoot Kerala’s achievement on the high quality of physical life index.
More than two-thirds of girls in Kerala got married at the preferred age of 20
years or above while the proportion was only 36 percent for all-India. In Kerala,
there was no marriage below 15 years, but 9 percent of the total reported
marriages were in the 15-17 year age group, which was below the legal minimum
age.
Nearly three-fourths of the marriages before the girl attained 18 years of age
in Kerala were from the three districts- Malappuram, Kannur and Kasargod.
Another noteworthy difference between Kerala and India is that while almost all
deliveries in Kerala took place in health institutions, institutional deliveries
formed only 39 per cent at the all-India level.
Almost one-third of the deliveries in Kerala were caesarian sections. The
caesarian rate in Kerala was more than three times the national rate and was
much higher than the maximum justifiable rate of 15 per cent recommended by the
World Health Organization.
Source : THE PENINSULA
