All adults of one in five households in India are overweight, reveals new study
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An alarming new study has found that all adults in two out of 10 households are either overweight or obese. Overweight is defined as a body weight higher than what is considered healthy for a given height, commonly assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI).
A person is considered overweight if his or her BMI is between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2. On the other hand, obesity is defined as a BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 or greater.
The study was conducted by researchers from ICMR-National Institute for Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), TERI School of Advanced Studies and Symbiosis International analysed data from the fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in over 6 lakh households. The results found that nearly 20 per cent of the households had all adult members classified as overweight while 10 per cent of households had all adults classified as obese.Further, the number went higher up in states like Manipur, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, where over 30 per cent of households had all adults overweight, according to the study, which was published in Public Health Journal. In Tamil Nadu and Punjab, 4o per cent households had all adults classified as obese.
The proportion of households with all obese members was nearly twice as high in urban areas compared to rural regions.The study mentions that families are 'gaining weight together'. It reveals that if one family member is overweight or obese, others are significantly more likely to be obese/overweight as well. "This clustering pattern underscores the urgent need for family-centred approaches to obesity prevention rather than individual-focused interventions," lead researcher from ICMR-NICPR Prashant Kumar Singh. Director ICMR-NICPR Shalini Singh, said, "The household clustering of obesity and overweight represents a paradigm shift in how we understand obesity. This study tells us the family unit is the epicentre of this health challenge."The study warned that individuals in these family obesity clusters face heightened risk of developing multiple non-communicable diseases.
It is already known that obesity serves as a marker for poor cardio-metabolic health and is known to be a gateway to numerous chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and heart failure. It is also linked to 13 types of cancer.
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