A
new study released by the Registrar General of India indicates that
obesity-related diseases have joined malnutrition as leading causes of death.
As India's economy grows, so does the temptation for many people to eat more and
do less. Tired and home late? Fatty food is just a phone call away.
Overweight, but eager to get married? Now there's overweightshadi.com, an Indian
dating site exclusively for obese people.
In a country where the Global Hunger Index shows that nearly half of all
children are malnourished, many of India's well-off citizens are now seeking
treatment for obesity.
New Delhi-based business professional Aradhna Tripathi admits she loves to eat.
"Eating is the most important thing in any Indian household and how you show
your love and gratitude for a person is through the kind of food you serve him,"
she said. "Indian people are used to eating the kinds of foods cooked at home
that are filled with masala and oil. With the kind of sedentary lifestyle we
lead, these are the reasons we have obesity increasing. "
India's current National Family Health Survey indicates that more than 20
percent of urban Indians are overweight or obese. And in the northwestern state
of Punjab, nearly 40 percent of all women are overweight or obese.
Tripathi says she was inspired to lose weight after contracting gestational
diabetes during her recent pregnancy. Her mother and grandmother are both
diabetic.
More and more Indians are signing up for weight loss programs out of fear of
disease, says Vandana Luthra, managing director of VLCC, a global slimming
agency based in India. "Earlier it was more of a luxury going to a spa or
wellness center, but today it has become a necessity," she said.
New data released by the International Diabetes Federation shows every sixth
diabetic in the world is an Indian - earning India the title "the world's
diabetes capital." Research over the past decade shows that genetically, Indians
store more body fat per kilogram than Europeans. Leading health professionals
agree, obesity puts Indians at an even greater risk of getting diabetes.
This risk is now crossing socioeconomic lines, says Dr. Anoop Misra director of
diabetes and metabolic disease at New Delhi's Fortis Hospital.
He says five years ago obesity and diabetes were limited to India's most
affluent. But, now poor Indians also are getting fatter. "We thought we'd find
all malnutrition, but what we found was the paradox. Many people were thin and
undernourished. The other side was many were fat and some of these belonged to
the poorest section of this slum. This was a clear contrast, a paradox occurring
in the same community. Half people overnourished, half undernourished," he said.
He blames the rise in obesity on inexpensive and oily snacks popular in Indian
slums, and a lack of preventative education.
China is not too far behind India. The World Health Organization says China's
obesity rates hover at 5 percent, and almost 20 percent in select cities. But
Dr. Misra says China is better equipped to contain the epidemic because it can
employ uniform prevention efforts in schools. India has a more heterogeneous mix
of government and private schools.
Despite that, Dr. Misra says he is optimistic that India's obesity epidemic can
be curbed. "It is the schools that we have to concentrate upon, it is the
children that we have to concentrate upon. And if it a uniform physical activity
and discipline dietary instructions are given right to the children I'm sure
that it can be curbed," he stated.
Source : www1.voanews.com
