Obesity problem enormous in Telangana

According to estimates from multiple public health specialists, the trend of steady rise in obesity, diabetes, hypertension and pre-diabetes stages will continue, as younger obese adults age into older adults

Hyderabad: High prevalence of critical health indicators including abdominal obesity, generalised obesity, hypertension and pre-diabetes among individuals, especially women, in Telangana is a clear indication of the enormous burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) that the State will have to face in the coming years.

While the traditional ailments based on seasonality have continued to remain active, in the last half-a-decade or so, major modern lifestyle-related health conditions like obesity, high cholesterol, abdominal fat and pre-diabetes, which are generally considered as precursors for diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments, have steadily increased in Telangana.

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Based on the data available with NFHS-5 (National Family Health Survey), the prevalence of abdominal obesity (waist circumference more than 80 cm) among women from 15 years to 49 years in Telangana is between 35 per cent and 50 per cent while among men it is close to 30 per cent.

The NFHS-5 data (2019-21) resembles the more recent Indian Council of Medical Research–India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study, which was released in 2023. According to the ICMR-INDIAB estimates, the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in India, 101 million and 136 million respectively, are much higher than earlier reported figures.

An analysis published in The Lancet (July, 2023) on abdominal obesity says, “It is recommended to perform physical activities to expend excess amount of energy. A recent study on the pattern of physical activity in India revealed that a significant proportion of the Indian population (57 per cent) is physically inactive or only mildly active, and females are less physically active than males.”

The prevalence (based on ICMR-INDIAB 2023) of hypertension (both rural and urban) in Telangana State is 30 per cent (both male and female) while generalised obesity is more than 25 per cent. Similarly, the prevalence of pre-diabetes condition among male and female in Telangana is more than 15 per cent while over 10 per cent of the individuals are diabetic.

According to estimates from multiple public health specialists, the trend of steady rise in obesity, diabetes, hypertension and pre-diabetes stages will continue, as younger obese adults age into older adults. For that reason, public health professionals advocate for stronger and strategic population-based interventions to reverse the trend of abdominal obesity increasing with age.