Bariatric surgeries rise among city's stressed call centre staff

Till eight months ago, Rita, 26, (name changed), a call center employee, weighed 140 kg. Working night shifts made dieting and exercising difficult. When her excess weight started leading to hormonal problems, Rita opted for a bariatric or weight loss surgery at Nova Medical Center, Chembur, last December.

Till eight months ago, Rita, 26, (name changed), a call center employee, weighed 140 kg. Working night shifts made dieting and exercising difficult. When her excess weight started leading to hormonal problems, Rita opted for a bariatric or weight loss surgery at Nova Medical Center, Chembur, last December. Since then, she has shed 40 kg.

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Bariatric surgeons in the city are seeing an increasing number of young call center employees opting for weight loss surgery. Dr Ramen Goel from Nova Medical Center said he had performed the surgery for 20 call center employees in the past six months.

"Earlier, we would see around five call center employees annually, but now the number has increased drastically. High stress levels trigger heavy food intake, which is often unutilised by the body due to lack of physical activity," said Dr Goel.

He added that night shifts lead to weight gain because they slow down the natural metabolism, raising the risk of cardio-vascular disease and diabetes.