“If India needs to reap the gains of its demographic dividend, it is critical that its population’s health parameters transition towards a balanced and diverse diet,” the survey says. A key health challenge it has pointed out is obesity.
“Obesity is emerging as a serious concern among India’s adult population. According to National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5), the percentage of men facing obesity in the age bracket 18-69 has increased to 22.9 per cent in NFHS-5 from 18.9 per cent in NFHS-4. For women, it has increased from 20.6% (NFHS-4) to 24.0% (NFHS-5),” it says.
Which state has how many obese people?
The Economic Survey 2023-24 gives the spatial distribution of India’s obesity challenge as per NFHS-5 vis-à-vis NFHS-4, by listing obesity figures for different states,
In Tamil Nadu, for men, it is 37.0% (vs. 28.2% in NFHS-4), and it is 40.4% for women (vs. 30.9% in NFHS-4). In Uttar Pradesh, for women, it has gone up to 21.3% (NFHS-5) from 16.5% (NFHS-4), and for men, it has gone up to 18.5% (NFHS-5) from 12.5% (NFHS-4). In Kerala, for women, it has gone up to 38.1% (NFHS-5) from 32.4% (NFHS-4), and for men, it has gone up to 36.4% (NFHS-5) from 28.5% (NFHS-4).
In West Bengal, for women, it has gone up to 22.7% (NFHS-5) from 19.9% (NFHS-4), and for men, it has gone up to 16.2% (NFHS-5) from 14.2% (NFHS-4).
In Karnataka, the increase over NFHS-4 is 7% points for women (30.1% vs. 23.3%) and nearly 9% points (30.9% vs. 22.1%) for men.
In Andhra, it is 36.3% for women (vs. 33.2%). However, for men, the number has dropped to 31.1% (vs. 33.5%).
At 30.1% and 32.3%, respectively, the proportion of women and men who are overweight in Telangana has increased from 28.6% for women to 24.2% for men in NFHS-4.
In Maharashtra, for women, it has remained the same across NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 at 23.4%, while for men, it has gone up to 24.7% (NFHS-5) from 23.8% (NFHS-4).
In Madhya Pradesh, for women, it has gone up to 16.6% (NFHS-5) from 13.6% (NFHS4), and for men, it has gone up to 15.6% (NFHS-5) from 10.9% (NFHS-4).
In Jharkhand, for women, it has gone up to 11.9% (NFHS-5) from 10.3% (NFHS-4), and for men, it has gone up to 15.1% (NFHS-5) from 11.1% (NFHS-4).
In Bihar, for women, it has gone up to 15.9% (NFHS-5) from 11.7% (NFHS-4), and for men, it has gone up to 14.7% (NFHS-5) from 12.6% (NFHS-4).
In the NCT (Delhi), the proportion of women with obesity is 41.3% (vs 33.5%), and for men, it is 38.0% (vs 24.6%).
Cities have more obese Indians
At the All-India level, a quick perusal of the data shows that the incidence of obesity, as per NFHS5, is significantly higher in urban India than in rural India (29.8% vs. 19.3% for men and 33.2% vs. 19.7% for women).
Combined with an ageing population in some states, obesity presents a concerning situation. Preventive measures must be taken to enable
citizens to have a healthier lifestyle. Here, it is pertinent to note that the NFHS-5 Survey overlapped with the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, with restrictions on outside activities and lockdowns, sedentary lifestyles may have become more entrenched, resulting in the obesity proportion going up much more in NFHS-5. If the trend reverses in NFHS-6, it will be a healthy sign.
