Obesity on the rise in India, says Lancet
The journal says the obesity epidemic is spreading to low-income and middle-income countries as a result of new dietary habits and sedentary ways of life, "fuelling chronic diseases and premature mortality".
The study recorded smaller increase of overweight in India (obesity rates for women rose from 10.6 per cent to 12.6 per cent between 1998-99 and 2005-06). But the increase was steepest in urban areas in the west of the continent -- nearly 40% in the early 2000s -- almost doubling in less than 10 years. "Though it quoted smaller increase in India...the prevalence of obesity ranges between 30 and 50 per cent in Delhi, Jaipur and Chennai and more often in women, resulting in multiple cadiovascular risk factors," said Dr Anoop Misra, Director and Head Department of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Healthcare.
The report says seven of 10 Mexican adults are now overweight or obese, while nearly half of all Brazilians, Russians and South Africans are in this category.