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(Relevance: India is suffering from the double burden of malnutrition and rising obesity. Recently, the Prime Minister also emphasized reducing oil consumption by 10%. He has nominated celebrities to spread the message. In this regard, it is important to understand obesity and the newly proposed definition of obesity.)
A recent Lancet study has highlighted that India had the second largest population of adults with overweight and obesity after China. The Lancet study examined the historical trends of the global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity from 1990 to 2021 and forecast the future trajectories to 2050.
Asserting the need to reduce weight, the PM appealed to the people to “reduce the intake of cooking oil by 10 per cent in your daily diet as it leads to obesity”.
“By making small changes in our food habits, we can make our future stronger, fitter and disease-free.”
1. Globally, more than half of all adults and a third of children and adolescents will become overweight or obese by 2050. According to the report, compared with 1990, the global prevalence of obesity had increased by 155·1% in males and 104·9% in females.
2. Worryingly, prevalence of obesity will shoot up among older adolescents — or those between the ages of 15 and 24. Among young men, the prevalence of overweight or obesity increased from 0.4 crore in 1990, to 1.68 crore in 2021, and is projected to increase to 2.27 crore by 2050. Among young women, this number has increased from 0.33 crore in 1990, 1.3 crore in 2021, and is projected to go up to 1.69 crore in 2050.
3. The report predicted that 21.8 crore men and 23.1 crore women in India will be overweight or obese — totalling up to 44.9 crores or nearly a third of the country’s projected population — by 2050.
4. The prevalence of obesity and overweight among boys in India increased from 0.46 crore in 1990, to 1.3 crore in 2021, and is projected to increase to 1.6 crore in 2050. Among girls, it has increased from 0.45 crore in 1990, to 1.24 crore in 2021, and projected to increase to 1.44 crore in 2050, according to the study.
5. This finding is significant at a time when India already has a high burden of non-communicable diseases — heart disease, strokes, and diabetes topping them. Obesity is a major risk factor and a trigger for early onset of these diseases, even Type 2 diabetes among teens.
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NFHS Stats on India’s obesity |
| According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019-21), overall, 24% of Indian women and 23% of Indian men are overweight or obese. Women who have a high-risk waist-to-hip ratio is 56.7% and in Indian men, it is 47.7%.
In the category of ages 15-49 years, 6.4 % of women and 4.0 % of men, are obese. Story continues below this ad There has been an increase in the percentage of children under 5 years who are overweight (weight-for-height) from 2.1 percent in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 3.4 percent in NFHS-5 (2019-21) at the All-India level. |
1. One of the key reasons driving the obesity epidemic is the increase in consumption of processed foods high in salt, sugar and fat. “Between 2009 and 2019, the largest annual growth in ultra-processed food and beverage sales per capita was observed in Cameroon, India, and Vietnam,” the study said.
2. There is a shift in dietary choices away from traditional foods and physical inactivity. The traditional food was low on animal products, salt, refined oils, sugars and flours and the new dietary habits are high in energy but low in nutrients – refined carbohydrates, high fat, meat products, and processed foods.
3. Increasing urbanisation has also led to reduced physical activity, longer commute times, and desk-bound jobs. The spillover effect of this is a rise in work-related stress, poor sleep, and mental health disorders, all of which are linked to obesity.
4. The report pointed out that there is a rise in obesity among women. It can be attributed to the fact that women are in more traditional settings, are too busy to make time for physical activity, have limited access to healthy food options or may be subject to dietary practices that prioritise the nutritional needs of other family members over their own. They have limited access to healthcare and awareness programs related to obesity.
1. Obesity, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that poses health risks. A person with a BMI of less than 18.5 is considered to be underweight, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered to be normal, those with BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered to be overweight, while those with BMI over 30 are considered to be obese.
2. Relying solely on BMI cut-offs leads to both over- and under-diagnosis of obesity. People with excess body fat may not always have a BMI of more than 30. They may nonetheless suffer the health consequences of obesity.
3. On the other hand, people with high muscle mass may have a BMI of more than 30 while being extremely healthy, and in no need of any intervention. In India, for instance, many seemingly lean people with a BMI of less than 30 have abdominal fat that can affect the functioning of various organs.
4. Recently, the Lancet medical journal’s Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission proposed a new definition and method for diagnosing obesity. The new definition broadens the meaning of obesity to take into account a number of physical parameters such as height, weight, and waist circumference, as well as things such as muscle mass, and the functioning of various organs.
5. The new definition does away with the overweight category, adding instead a category called “pre-clinical obesity”. The Commission defines preclinical obesity as a physical attribute but not an illness. It says: “In some people it might represent an earlier stage of clinical obesity, whereas in other people it can be a phenotype with lower tendency to directly affect organ function.”
6. The Indian guidelines use the classifications of ‘stage 1’ and ‘stage 2’ obesity instead of preclinical and clinical obesity.
7. According to the Indian definition, a person would be deemed to have stage 1 obesity if they have a BMI of more than 23 — waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio is optional for this group — but do not have symptoms that show limitations in day to day activities, and other obesity-related chronic conditions.
8. For diagnosis of stage 2 obesity, a person would have to have a BMI of more than 23, meet one more physical parameter of obesity (such as waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio), and suffer from obesity-associated limitations, comorbid diseases.
Post Read Question
Consider the following statements about the new proposed definition of obesity:
1. According to the new proposed definition, Body Mass Index is replaced by waist-to-hip ratio to make it more inclusive.
2. It has removed the ‘overweight category’ with ‘pre-clinical obesity’.
3. The Indian category of obesity definition includes stage 1 and stage 2 obesity.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
| Answer Key |
| (b) |
(Source: Lancet study says a third of India will be obese by 2050: What’s driving the obesity epidemic?, India sitting on obesity curve: What’s causing it? New definition for obesity? What a new Lancet commission has proposed to replace BMI)
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