Hyderabad : For some, being called obese might mean not looking good. But obesity isn’t just a cosmetic concern. It is a health concern that increases the risk of other diseases, such as heart ailments, diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancers.
March 4 is commemorated as World Obesity Day. Since 2015, World Obesity Day was initiated as an annual campaign with the objective of stimulating actions and supporting practical or possible solutions that will help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The ultimate objective of this effort is to strive towards achieving a reversal of the global obesity crisis.
IWP spoke to a few healthcare professionals from Hyderabad to understand the seriousness of the problem.
Healthcare professionals say it is important to revisit the financial implications of obesity on our society. While the direct medical costs may just include preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services, there are certain indirect costs related to sickness, lost productivity, and even death.
Productivity measures include employees being absent from work for obesity-related health reasons, decreased productivity while at work, disability, and even premature death, all add to this burden.
“Being overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, and fatty liver disease.
Obesity is also associated with some cancers, including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon,” said, Dr. G. Parthasarathy, Sr. Consultant, Surgical Gastroenterology, Laparoscopic & Hepato-Pancreaticobiliary Surgery, KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad.
“Obesity is defined as a body mass index is greater than or equal to 27.5kg/m2 in the Asian population. Southern India (46.51 per cent) shows the highest prevalence, while eastern India shows the lowest (32.96 per cent).
Weight-loss surgery (bariatric surgery) is one of the choices today that effectively treats morbid obesity in people for whom more conservative measures, such as diet, exercise, and medicine have failed,” he said.
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