Fitness-Part 1

Obesity: the looming health hazard

If you were asked what topped the list of chronic diseases, you might be tempted to answer diabetes, or high blood pressure, or heart disease, or asthma. However, the World Health Organisation has placed obesity on top of the list! So, does a country like India have to worry?

The biggest health epidemic that India will face in the coming decade is not going to be the infections that we are familiar with, like malaria, tuberculosis or HIV. The epidemic that is going to strain the economy of our country will be the disastrous complications directly resulting from obesity: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases and pregnancy complications. It is estimated that India and China will lose $900 billion of national income between 2005 and 2015 to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As our economic star is on the ascension, obesity and its consequences threaten to pull us down.

The root cause of obesity

With relative prosperity, Indians now have access to an excess of food. We have moved away from traditional, healthy foods that included large amounts of fibre to highly processed foods full of sugar and empty calories. This change of diet, along with the availability of machines to help with housework, has unleashed the spectre of obesity into our midst.

Women are at risk

The combination of obesity and its associated diseases affects more women than men. The impact that obesity has on women is far-reaching and affects their quality of life and indeed, their mortality itself. Since obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, the mushrooming occurrence of obesity in developing countries has caused diabetes to race ahead of other diseases. The shocking fact is that 4 out of every 5 women with diabetes are living in a developing country.

The International Federation of Diabetes projects that more women than men will die of diabetes and diabetes-related complications (such as kidney failure and coronary heart disease). In a country where a woman’s life is valued less than a man’s, even Nature is conspiring against her.

One of the major consequences of obesity is its effect on the knees. For every excess kilo that a woman carries, her knees feel a pressure of 4 kilos. With obesity, the knee joints get worn out and become excruciatingly painful. Unable to walk and exercise, these women pile on more weight and enter a vicious cycle of obesity and pain.

Is it only urban women who are at risk for obesity? While it has been estimated that 50 percent of urban women in India are obese, the shocker is that 20 percent of women in rural areas are obese.