Affecting every region of the globe, obesity has become one of the most neglected public health problems as described by World Health Organization(WHO). However, the prevalence of overweight/obesity is intensifying rapidly in south India population.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the percentage of married women aged 18-49 years who are overweight or obese increased from 11% in NFHS-2 to 15% in NFHS-3 in south India, the percentage of women who are overweight or obese is highest in Kerala (34%), followed by Tamil Nadu (24.4%), Andhra Pradesh (22.7%) and Karnataka (17.3%).
As per cross section and institution based study conducted at Tamilnadu, The overall prevalence rate of overweight/obese among adults was 52.4%. Females overweight/obese was 22.8% to 34.8% and in males overweight/obese was 23.4 to 22%.
Obesity has a significant risk factor associated with a range of serious non-communicable diseases in south Indian population. "It is also a major driver for the widely prevalent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, breast cancer and dyslipidemia disorders. Hence, there is an urgent need to address the trouble and efforts should be made to prevent the epidemic of obesity and its allied health problems in south India," says Dr Venugopal Pareek, senior bariatric & laparoscopic surgeon, Hyderabad.