The incidence of being overweight/obese is more among women than men in the age group of 15-49 years both at the country level — women 24% marginally higher than men 22.9% — as well as in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka and Telangana, the incidence is marginally lower among women.
Hyderabad district tops in Telangana in terms of obesity with 51% and Kumram-Bheem Asifabad least at 14%. Visakhapatnam at 23.8% is least in AP and highest prevalence is in Guntur 46.4%.
However, the levels are higher than the national average in all the Southern States for both men and women, which is a cause of concern, when a comparison of data on incidence of overweight/obesity among women is taken from National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – Round 5 (2019-2021).
This special bulletin based on the national health survey published by the Council for Social Development (CSD), Hyderabad, was released by special secretary and commissioner, Women Development and Child Welfare, D. Divya, on Thursday.
Both NFHS-4 and 5 had revealed interesting facts. At the national level, the obesity has increased by 3.3% and a similar pattern can be found across the Southern States as well.
In Tamil Nadu, the increase was highest (by 9.5%), closely followed by Karnataka and Kerala (an increase of 6.9% and 5.7% respectively) whereas it is least in Telangana (by 2%).
In terms of residence and wealth category, the incidence is more tilted towards the urban and highest to middle level wealthier section of the society. The incidence is higher among Christian and Muslim women than Hindus whereas social categorization tells a different story – women from others category and other Backward Class are overweight/obese than the SCs and STs.
The bulletin provided a comprehensive picture of women’s overweight/obese status in the Southern States (Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) of India with the objective of delivering a robust understanding of one of the aspects of women’s nutritional status data for the Telangana and other Southern States, said CSD regional director in charge Sujit Kumar Mishra.
The information can be used as a ready-reckoner for academicians and researchers focused on Telangana as well as the South since it provides inputs for framing effective policy interventions. The bulletin has identified the highest-burden states and districts focusing on different socioeconomic attributes.
Districts have been ranked on the basis of their prevalence - higher the prevalence, lower the performance, and vice versa. The socio-economic attributes such as social categories (SC/ST/OBC/GEN), location (rural/urban), the economic status based on wealth category (Highest, Fourth, Middle, Second and Lowest) are depicted with respect to incidence of overweight/obesity.
CSD is funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Telangana Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bulletin was prepared by research associate Mohammad Sajid, and assistant professor Soumya Vinayan under the supervision of Prof. Mishra, said a press release.
