Is The Youth Of Delhi-NCR More Prone To Obesity?

A number of us are nodding our heads fervently. But there is a difference between being overweight and obese. Although both conditions indicate having more body weight than deemed healthy by experts, being overweight also means an excess accumulation of fat in the body with a Body Mass Index of 30 or above. The condition is as unhealthy as it sounds and the Delhi’s youth is being pushed towards it at a faster than normal pace.

A recent study titled, ‘Perception and Awareness Regarding Bariatric Surgical Procedure & It’s Benefits’ was conducted by a third-party on behalf of Max Healthcare across Delhi-NCR to investigate attitudes and experiences of general Delhi population towards obesity and weight-loss surgery. The study indicates that the root cause behind the rising obesity in the Capital is junk food, alcohol and a carefree lifestyle.

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Studying The Capital

The results reveal some shocking numbers after the study, which was conducted on over 1,000 people from Delhi and neighbouring region, in the age group of 20-45 over the last one month. “In the survey, over 80 per cent of the respondents (both men and women) said they had a Body-Mass Index (BMI) of over 25 kg/sq m, but only about 21 per cent considered themselves as obese or overweight.

“This is both shocking and distressing that the youth don’t even consider obesity as a disorder or a disease, let alone be aware of the health risk it could trigger,” Dr. Pradeep Chowbey, Chairman of Max Institute of Minimal Access, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, told PTI.

“Alcohol, junk food consumption which has become part of the carefree urban lifestyle is actually wreaking havoc on people’s health in metros like Delhi, and the worst-affected age group is 20-30 years. And, women are getting affected more than men,” he added.

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The Findings

The youth in Delhi showed an average of 27.5 on BMI scale during the survey. To give you some perspective, the normal limit for BMI (body weight/height squared) is 22.5-kg/sq. m. And most of the people included in the study did not even consider themselves obese even though they were.

“What is more worrying is that majority of the respondents (70 per cent) did not know that hypertension is associated with obesity, or that it could trigger diabetes, what we call as diabesity,” he said.

Chowbey also said, “At Max Healthcare, on an average nearly 300-400 people from Delhi are coming for bariatric surgery, out of which about 50 are being operated per month. And, women constitute nearly 60 per cent of the cases.”

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How Does Obesity Affect The Health?

Apart from the aforementioned hypertension and diabetes, or “diabesity” as Dr. Chowbey said, obesity can be the source of serious health ailments like heart diseases, joint problems, kidney problems, sleep apnea and depression to name a few.

65.4 per cent men and 73.6 per cent women were unaware of he fact that obesity could lead to joint problems. Further, 93.5 per cent men as against 76.8 per cent women didn’t know about kidney problems related to obesity. Also, to add to the “WTF” factor of the results, 50 per cent men versus 63 per cent women agreed that obesity could be a cause for infidelity in a relationship. Seriously. WTF!

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