I have been lucky to include India in my wanderings around the world, despite the fact that my visits are always short lived, a matter of days and it is always to the same place, the healthiest place in India, Fort Cochin in the State of Kerala.
Even there, I could not help notice the increasing body girth, especially mid body girth a la Ganesh, taken as a sign of prosperity in a land used to chronic malnutrition.
In the age of Covid 19 infection, studies from Tamil Nadu in India show that overweight and obese Indinas are more prone to infection than their thin compatriots.
so I was surprised at the rate of obesity in the major cities.
It is even scarier to think that this is the rate according to the western standards of Obesity ie BMI greater than 30 Kg/M2.
It has long been understood that BMI for overweight and obesity in Asian people have to be adjusted down to 22 kg/M2 and 27 kg/M2. If that is applied, then the rate of obesity in Indian cities mentioned about are perilously close to those of USA and more than most European countries.
While there may be more PEOPLE with obesity in CHINA, the number of PEOPLE (not the rate) with Diabetes is the highest in India (in this planet).
When you are at a restaurant you notice that most of the waiters are slim and healthy looking. At least in Cochin, most of the people who fill this sector of service are immigrants from other states than Kerala. ( there is an incongruous similarity, that in Qatar or Oman, most of the same service jobs are done by immigrants from India!)
This is the graph of underweight people in India Green China Red (what else) and USA Blue. There is a fair bit of Underweight people in India which has also increased since 1975 in India.. This Weight paradox in India has an anthropological explanation, connected to the relaxation of business practices and arrival of investments and remittances from the Gulf states..
In the mean time hardly any Indian does Yoga.. There are far more Yogis in the USA with 25% of the population of India, than Mother India itself..
So perhaps, Indians should eat less USA inspired food and do more Yoga ?
Even there, I could not help notice the increasing body girth, especially mid body girth a la Ganesh, taken as a sign of prosperity in a land used to chronic malnutrition.
In the age of Covid 19 infection, studies from Tamil Nadu in India show that overweight and obese Indinas are more prone to infection than their thin compatriots.
so I was surprised at the rate of obesity in the major cities.
It has long been understood that BMI for overweight and obesity in Asian people have to be adjusted down to 22 kg/M2 and 27 kg/M2. If that is applied, then the rate of obesity in Indian cities mentioned about are perilously close to those of USA and more than most European countries.
While there may be more PEOPLE with obesity in CHINA, the number of PEOPLE (not the rate) with Diabetes is the highest in India (in this planet).
When you are at a restaurant you notice that most of the waiters are slim and healthy looking. At least in Cochin, most of the people who fill this sector of service are immigrants from other states than Kerala. ( there is an incongruous similarity, that in Qatar or Oman, most of the same service jobs are done by immigrants from India!)
In the mean time hardly any Indian does Yoga.. There are far more Yogis in the USA with 25% of the population of India, than Mother India itself..
So perhaps, Indians should eat less USA inspired food and do more Yoga ?
