Nearly 15 per cent women of reproductive age in India are either overweight or obese, also indicating a 5 per cent increase in the past decade. In addition, the percentage of obesity is higher in Indian women than their counterparts in Bangladesh and Nepal revealed a study conducted by the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, and published in the Journal of Nutrition.

The study, conducted on women between the ages of 15 and 49, aimed to examine trends in the prevalence of abnormalities in weight among women of reproductive age in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The researchers found that the prevalence of overweight-obesity increased substantially in all countries. Comparing the first to the latest survey in Bangladesh, the prevalence of overweight-obesity increased from 2.7 to 8.9 per cent, in Nepal from 1.6 to 10.1 per cent, and in India from 10.6 to 14.8 per cent. The survey included nationally representative data from eight demographic and health surveys conducted in the three countries — 161,755 women in India were studied.

“It (data) is extremely important as it covers the 15-49 age group. This indicates that the reasons for high metabolic risk in the country is the growing sedentary lifestyle and high degree of snacking among Indian women,” said Dr Anoop Misra, Director and Head Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Hospitals, Delhi.