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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

'19% affluent teens in UP are obese' -Shailvee Sharda
-The Times of India


LUCKNOW: In a state infamous for malnutrition, one out of five teens going to private schools is either overweight or obese. This has been revealed in a study conducted by National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC). The study covered more than 49,000 school children in eight cities, including 23,006 children in Lucknow, Agra and Allahabad. The other cities were New Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Dehradun and Pantnagar.

The study states that 14.9% of the total 23,006 students covered in three UP cities were overweight/obese. The percentage of fatter kids was higher in private schools than in public schools. While the average for overweight/obese children in private schools stood at 19.3%, for public schools it was 6.9% -- suggesting that the abnormal body weight was linked to the socio-economic status of the child's family. The figures for three cities of UP were quite close to the national figures in all the three categories.

Dr Vijayalakshmi Bhatia, professor at endocrinology department, SGPGI, expressed concern over the trend. "Future is the reason to worry. Data from developed countries shows that obesity began with the well-to-do but later on went to affect all sections of the society. Worst hit in the lot were the ones who could least afford to problem. The same is being predicted for India," she said, adding, "adolescence is the age when obesity hits more."

The National Medical Journal of India examined the problem at a micro level. A nationwide reference data for height, weight and body mass index of Indian school children, prepared by Dr Raman Kumar Marwaha of department of endocrinology and thyroid research center, AIIMS, has documented the change in weight. "Compared to the 1990s, median weight of children has increased by 4 kilos now," he concluded.

Over a lakh children in the 3-18 age group from lower and upper socio-economic strata were covered from 19 different centres. Meta-analysis revealed that mean weight of a 12-year-old girl increased from 35 kg in 1990s to 41.9 kg now. Similarly, the change for an 18-year-old girl was from 48.4 kg to 55.6 kg. Commenting on the study, Dr Vijayalakshmi said, "The 13-and 15-year-old girls and the 14-and 16-year-old boys) have already reached overweight and obese categories by the adult Indian definition."

Medical journal Lancet launched a series of papers on maternal and child nutrition on Thursday. It says that a 10% increase in gross domestic product ( GDP) leads to a 7% increase in overweight people. Changes in lifestyle are the first thing to be blamed, said Dr Vijayalakshmi. "Children have stopped playing due to poor facilities in schools and at home. Then there is poor awareness and stress on play in our educational system. Education policy makers, school system and parents, i.e., society at large should begin to recognize that physical and mental wellbeing through sports - both formal ad informal - is as important as academic achievement, if not more," she told TOI.

An expert in pediatric endocrinology, Dr Vijayalakshmi identified 'diversion of outdoor play time towards screen time' as the other important reason. Screen time is the time spent by a child in passive activities like watching TV, working on computers or playing virtual games. "A high screen time results in children sitting rather than moving around which is not on the interest of their health. Time has in fact come when pediatricians should prescribe "do not sit" as a mandatory instruction," she stated.

Availability of calorie rich food is also responsible according to Poonam tewari, consultant dietician at a private hospital. "Fast food alone cannot be blamed. There is no dearth of fattening food on the Indian platter. The list includes samosa, chaat, namkeen, poori, paratha and so on. The intake of all these foods along with the mouthwatering French fries and Italian pizza must be limited to ensure that kids stay in good health," she said.

Underlining the need to check obesity, experts said that besides being associated with health complication during teenage, obesity poses risk of diseases at during adulthood. "If not during childhood or adolescence, obese children can fall prey to diabetes and hypertension in their 20s or 30s which means that the risk of coronary artery and stroke will constantly haunt his mind," said Dr Kausar Usman, faculty medicine department, KGMU.