Is Raised BMI an Alarming Concern for Obesity? A Study from Rural Haryana, India

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight, obesity, and associated health problems are on the rise in the developing and developed world. The spreading of the fast-food culture, sedentary lifestyle, and increase in body weight has led some to coin the emerging threat of “globesity” epidemic. Methodology: Multistage random sampling was used in this cross-sectional study. 1080 individuals of 15-64 years age group who were further subdivided into five subgroups (15-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 years) taking 90 individuals from each Anganwadi area were selected and interviewed. Appropriate statistical tests were used for analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of overweight (BMI = 25.00-29.99 kg/m ) was found to be 22.8% and it was higher among females (26.7%) as compared to males (18.9%). The prevalence of overweight was highest in 25- 34 years age group (27.8%) and lowest in 15-24 years age group (13.0%) among males whereas among females, it was highest in 45-54 years age group (38.0%) and lowest in 25-34 years age group (15.7%). Conclusion: This study confirmed the high burden of raised body mass index (BMI) in rural areas and reiterated the need to address these issues comprehensively as a part of noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and control strategy.

Keywords

• BMI, Hypertension, Obesity, Rural.