Telangana faces rising obesity and NCD burden
NFHS-6 data highlights rising obesity and elevated blood sugar levels in Telangana, with women in Hyderabad particularly affected by excess weight. Public health experts stress the need for long-term preventive policies as obesity, diabetes and hypertension place growing demands on healthcare.
Hyderabad: Obesity has emerged as the number one global threat for the 21st Century in a global threat rankings recently released by the The Lancet Commission. The threat assessment about obesity, however, is a present-day reality in Telangana, which is already grappling with a heavy disease burden and also staring at a similar burden of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the coming years.
Yet, despite the huge scale of the crisis, the State government’s response remains reactive. While health authorities routinely count the large number of people suffering from diabetes and hypertension, concrete policy measures to tackle why people are getting sick in the first place, remain glaringly absent in Telangana.
The obesity and NCD numbers are quite alarming in Telangana. The NFHS-6 (2023-24) data for Telangana indicates that over half of women (50.4 percent) in Hyderabad are categorized as overweight or obese, a clear indication of how sedentary lifestyle and improper diet have become common among families in Hyderabad. At a larger state level, 36.3 percent of women in Telangana are obese.
Population-based research from Hyderabad’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) indicates that nearly 47.7 percent of individuals in Telangana fall into the overweight or obese category.
Apart from BMIs, the NFHS-6 data also indicates a big surge in NCDs. Nearly 24.5 percent of men and 19.6 percent of women in Telangana either show high blood sugar levels or already are under medication for diabetes. Data indicates that approximately 28.2 percent of men and 24.2 percent women in Telangana suffer from hypertension.
Till a few years ago, heart ailments were confined to older age groups. However, hypertension (which triggers heart ailments) is now registering heavily among prime working-age adults i.e. 35 percent among individuals in their late 30s and 40s.
Public health experts and doctors point out that the present situation is not due to failure on the part of individuals but more to do with the lack of a long term plan/policy from the State government to address the heavy burden of obesity in the coming decade.
A snapshot of obesity and NCDs in Telangana:
- 50.4 percent of women aged 15–49 years overweight or obese with BMI more than 25 in Hyderabad
- Statewide, 36.3 percent of women in Telangana are overweight or obese.
- Nearly 47.7 percent of individuals (men and women) are overweight/obese.
- 24.5 percent of men and 19.6 percent of women are diabetics and are on medication.
- 28.2 percent of men and 24.2 percent of women suffer from hypertension.
- Hypertension rates surge to approximately 35 percent among prime working-age adults in their late 30s and 40s.
- Emerging risks: AI and nuclear conflict:
For the first time, the Lancet Commission’s risk assessment report has classified malicious use of AI and nuclear conflict as potential extinction-level and major catastrophic risks to human civilization. The Commission said that survival of humans in 21st Century is no longer shaped by diseases but a complex mix of lifestyle epidemics and technological vulnerabilities like AI.
