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Chandigarh women a cut ahead in self-diagnosing health problems, as per National Family Health Survey
According to the National Family Health Survey, 3.6% women in Chandigarh self-diagnosed such health problems as asthma, goitre and heart-related disease compared to 2.5% men
Women residents of the city are more vigilant in self-diagnosing health problems, including the lifestyle-related diseases like diabetes and hypertension, as compared to men, the data released by the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) revealed on Saturday.
The NFHS 2019-21, conducted by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, is the fifth in the series and provides information on population, health and nutrition for each state and UT as well as national figures.
The report said the percentage of women in the 15-49 age group who had reported having diabetes, asthma, goitre or other thyroid disorders, any heart disease or cancer was more as compared to the men.
Around 3.6% women in the city self-diagnosed their ailments as compared to 2.5% men. Interestingly, the data shows that 1.2% of women diagnosed having asthma, 6.8% women detected goitre or other thyroid disorders while 0.6% heart-related disease, while no men self-diagnosed the aforementioned health issues.
The report has also revealed that be it diabetes, obesity, anaemia or breast cancer, Chandigarh has the highest percentage of incidents of these diseases despite the relatively small population.
The recent survey also showed that around 30.6% of the city’s men are suffering from hypertension, as compared to 24% of women. The national averages for hypertension in men and women are 24% and 21.1% respectively.
Health experts believe that sedentary lifestyle and eating habits are reasons towards increasing diseases. The busy lifestyle, which has drastically altered eating habits with people preferring junk and packaged foods, was credited to inviting serious lifestyle-related issues, the doctors said.
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s (PGIMER) head of the department of endocrinology Dr Sanjay Bhadada said, “In Chandigarh, less number of women are involved in physical activities, as compared to men as they are burdened with office and household work. Also, the nutritional level in women is low. Due to this, women are more prone to getting lifestyle disease.”
“As far as reporting of the disease is concerned, men usually ignore visiting the hospital due to their work schedule and lifestyle. It was learnt that more men are involved in drinking alcohol and they mostly hide the diseases that occur due to consumption of alcohol,” he added.
