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New Delhi: The verdict is out: India is a fat country, and
Indian women are at the highest risk of developing diabetes,
hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, heart disease and
metabolic syndrome.
The findings of the International Day for Evaluation of
Abdominal Obesity (IDEA) study, spanning 63 countries across
five continents, say South Asian women (the study centres
were India and Pakistan), have the highest incidence of
abdominal obesity, regarded as a primary risk factor for all
these diseases.
This is the widest study of its kind to spot differences in
obesity trends with varying ethnicity.
The findings were presented at the recently concluded World
Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.
A total of 1,77,345 nonpregnant, primary care patients aged
between 18 and 80 were studied on two pre-fixed dates—May 9,
2005 and July 6 2005—in all the participating countries. The
variables examined included waist circumference, height,
weight, demographic data, presence of cardiovascular
diseases, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.
In India, 400 primary care physicians participated, with the
total number of patients screened being 9,034.
The results were alarming. As per internationally accepted
parameters of abdominal obesity, 55% south Asian women were
found to be obese, as compared to around 20% men.
When the recommended lower threshold limits for Asian
population were applied, the figures jumped to 75% and 58%
respectively.
According to Dr Anoop Misra, director and head, department
of diabetes and metabolic diseases, Fortis Group of
Hospitals, who was the India coordinator for the study,
‘‘Indians and Pakistanis were found to have the highest
incidence of abdominal obesity, with the rates in women
being particularly worrying.’’
The other regions that were covered by the obesity study
include Australia, Canada, East Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin
America, Middle East, North and South Africa and Western
Europe.
The picture, says Dr Misra, is actually grimmer than what
these figures reveal. ‘‘Even for comparable waist
circumference readings, Asian populations have been found to
have more fat in the abdomen as compared to Caucasians who
have more of muscle and other tissue.’’
As compared to Indian data of about five years back, the
present data, he says, shows an increase in obesity between
10%and 15% that shows that despite all the attention obesity
has received in medical research and bulletins in a country
of 1 billion, it has not affected the ground reality too
much.
‘‘Increasing affluence, increased intake of junk/energy
rich food, sedentary lifestyle have made us the worst-off on
the obesity landscape. In women all these factors are
compounded by the completely sedentary lifestyle. Once a
women puts on weight post-pregnancy, it stays on,’’ adds Dr
Misra.
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