✅Relevance : Unit 9.8 and Unit 11 Paper -1
– India has become one of the countries with a high “double burden,” according to a new Lancet study, which examined the trends of malnutrition and obesity across the world over the last 32 years.
– The study blamed lack of access to affordable and nutritious food for the prominence of undernutrition and obesity.
– While lack of access to food can lead to undernutrition, increased access to processed foods high in fats, salt, and sugar has driven up obesity, the study added.
📌 What are the parameters of being obese and underweight?
– According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), obesity is an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that poses health risks.
– Adults — anyone over the age of 20 years — are considered to be obese, if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or more.
📌 What does the data tell about obesity and thinness in India?
– Obesity in women has spiked in the past three decades — it increased from 1.2% in 1990 to 9.8% in 2022, according to the study.
– There were 44 million women living with obesity in 2022.
– Meanwhile, obesity in men increased by 4.9 percentage points during the same period, with 26 million men living with obesity in 2022.
📌 Why are more women obese as compared to men?
– Women are more prone to putting on weight because most of them do not have access to or time for physical activities such as walks or gyms.
– They are also likely to put the nutrition of the family above theirs
– They are also likely to have fewer hours of proper sleep, waking up first and going to bed last.
📌 How do socio-economic conditions affect obesity and undernutrition?
– An analysis of the NFHS-5 data from last year shows that the prevalence of obesity was 31.7% in urban women and 19% in rural women. It was 28.6% among urban men and 18.8% among rural men.
– Obesity is no longer the disease of the rich in India.
– Eating junk food is cheaper and easier
For example, the street food available at roadside shacks is less than fruit and vegetables.
This has led to an increase in obesity even among the poor, especially in states that are better off such as Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Goa.