TN Records the Highest Increase in Obesity Among Women in South India, National Family Health Survey

By: WE Staff | Friday, 9 September 2022

According to a data bulletin on women's obesity in the southern states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, women are more overweight or obese than men nationwide (24% vs. 22.9%), as well as in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Even though the incidence is slightly lower in Karnataka and Telangana, both men's and women's levels are higher in all of the southern states than the national average. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019–2021) BMI data were utilised for the study in the bulletin, which was published by the Council for Social Development in Hyderabad.

Women between the ages of 15 and 49 were recruited for the study from 120 districts in southern India, including 31 in Telangana, 30 in Karnataka, 13 in Andhra Pradesh, 14 in Kerala, and 32 in Tamil Nadu.

The study also found that Christians (31.2%) have a high prevalence of overweight/obesity at the national level. Even among Muslim and Hindu women, the incidence is more than or near one-fourth. However, in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Telangana, the prevalence is higher among Muslims.

At the national level, the social category-based prevalence of overweight/obesity in women shows that Others (29.6%) have the highest incidence, followed by Other Backward Classes (24.6%), Scheduled Caste (21.6%), and Scheduled Tribe (12.6%).  Similar pattern may be observed among southern states too. 

Higher than the national average, the southern states have high rates of overweight/obesity among metropolitan women. With almost one-fourth of women in the highest wealth category being reported to be overweight or obese in Karnataka and Telangana, compared to one-third or more in the other south Indian states, the incidence in rural regions is also significantly higher than the national average.

According to the classification of the wealth index, the greatest wealth category (38.6%) has a higher prevalence than the fourth (30.5%) and middle (23.7%) categories at the national level. The prevalence is frighteningly high in the southern states (almost or more than half of the women), with Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana having the highest rates.

When comparing information on the prevalence of overweight/obesity among women from the National Family Health Survey-4 and 5, the researchers discovered a few surprising things. It rose by 3.3% nationally, and the southern states also have a pattern that is consistent with this growth. Tamil Nadu saw the largest growth (by 9.5%), followed closely by Karnataka and Kerala (6.9% and 5.7%, respectively), while Telangana saw the smallest increase (2%).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an adult is considered overweight or obese if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than or equal to 25, and an adult is considered obese if their BMI is greater than or equal to 30.

Compared to the global norm, India has seen a rapid rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Overweight prevalence among women grew from 8.4% to 15.5% between 1998 and 2015.