Two out of 5 women in Chandigarh are obese, says NFHS-4 data
If one goes by the data presented by National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), city women are fattest across 26 states and Union Territories (UTs) with 42% in the age group of 15-49 falling in the fat category. City’s women are second on the anaemic list with 76% considered to be affected with the disease.
If one goes by the data presented by National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), city women are fattest across 26 states and Union Territories (UTs) with 42% in the age group of 15-49 falling in the fat category. City’s women are second on the anaemic list with 76% considered to be affected with the disease.
Information for the survey was gathered from 751 households that included 746 women, and 120 men.
Overweight and obesity are defined as excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Those adults whose Body Mass Index (BMI) was greater than or equal to 25 were considered as obese or overweight, by NFHS-4. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is universally expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres.
The Society for Promotion for Youth and Masses (SPYM) conducted the fieldwork for NFHS-4 in Chandigarh from May 14 to June 24, 2016. The survey also found that 32 percent men are overweight or obese.
On the fatty list, Puducherry (37%) and Andhra Pradesh (33%) are second and third on the position.
“Studies from Chandigarh have shown that obesity is the major problem in the city. Most women are physically inactive and there is a shift from traditional food to junk food. They should start eating healthy and should make physical exercise, a part of their routine,” said JS Thakur, from School of Public Health, at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.
“All lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and cancer are directly associated with obesity. Breast cancer rate in Chandigarh is also highest in the country and it has direct association with obesity,” he added.
CITY HAS TWICE THE NUMBER OF OBESE WOMEN THAN HARYANA
The number of obese women in city is double than the obese women in Haryana. It is 10 per cent more, when compared to Punjab.
In Haryana 21,652 women, and 3,380 men were enrolled in the survey, and 21% women were found to be obese. In Punjab, 31% women and 28% men were found to be obese. Here the sample size was 19,484 women, and 3,027 men.
CHANDIGARH WOMEN SECOND ON ANAEMIA LIST
On anaemia, a disease where the blood does not have the required purity leading to premature fatigue, the city is second on the list with 76% of the woman population anaemic. The maximum proportion of anaemic woman are in Dadra and Nagar Haveli at 80%.
Prevalence of anaemia is far more in Chandigarh than in neighbourhood states like Punjab and Haryana, which have reported 53.5% and 62.7% anaemic women.
When it comes to providing iron folic tablets to pregnant women, the UT health department is yet to ensure that a substantial proportion gets the required supplement. Only 45% pregnant women consumed the iron folic acid dose for 100 days or more during pregnancy.
KNOW THE SURVEY
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. The NFHS is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS),Mumbai, India; ORC Macro, Calverton, Maryland, USA and the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, designated IIPS as the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the NFHS.
NFHS was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with supplementary support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). IIPS collaborated with a number of Field Organisations (FO) for survey implementation. Each FO was responsible for conducting survey activities in one or more states covered by the NFHS.
