NFHS-5: Indians don dey fat well-well - and na big problem

Indians don dey fat o! Na wetin new goment survey dey tok and sabi pipo say kasala fit burst if dem no handle di growing obesity palava like na war.

Before, pipo dey tink say obesity na di problem of West wey get money, now e don dey low and middle income kontris, and from no wia e don find im way enta India.

India now na part of di top five kontris in terms of obesity afta dem dey long known as di kontri of malnourished pipo.

One estimate from 206 say 135 million Indians dey obese. Health sabi pipo say dat number dey grow sharparly and kontri undernourished don dey turn overweight.

According to di latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), wey be di most ogbonge survey into health and social tins wey goment dey do, almost 23% of men and 24% of women get body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more wey be 4% increase for both genders from 2015-16. Di data show say 3.4% of pikinwey neva reach five dey overweight too.

Dr Ravindran Kumeran, wey be surgeon for Chennai city (Madras) and founder of Obesity Foundation of India warn say "we dey obesity epidemic for India and worldwide and e go soon turn pandemic if we no quich handle di mata".

Dr Kumeran say na siddon lifestyle plus di availabilty of cheap food wey dey make pipo fat na di man reasons why, "most of us, most especially for urban India dey out of shape".

BMI, wey dem dey calculate with pesin weight and dia height na di most accepted measurement for world to decide if pesin dey "normal", "overweight", "obese" and "morbidly obese". World Health Organization (WHO) say BMI wey be 25 and ova dey overweight.

But Dr Kumeran and oda sabi pipo for health say make dem drop di points by two lower for South Asian pipo sake of say e dey easy to get "central obesity" wey be belle fat and e dey more unhealthy pass anywia else for bodi. Dis go mean Indian wey get 23 BMI dey overweight.

Dr Kumeran say, "if you say 23 na cut off mark, I think say like half India, mostly for di urban areas, go dey overweight".

WHO say too much body fat fit increase risk of 13 types of cancer, type-2 diabetes, heart problems and lung wahala. Last year obesity cause 2.8 million deaths worldwide.

Dr Pradeep Chowbey na di former president for di International Federation for Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (Ifso), e say, "every 10kg of extra weight dey reduce life by three years. If pesin dey overweight by 50kg, e fit comot 15 years of life. We say patients wey dey obese get mortality times three".

Dr Chowbey, wey be part of di first to start bariatric surgery for India 20 years ago, as last resort to treat obesity of like BMI of 40 or above, say pipo no sabi di psychological and social impact.

"We do survey for 1,000 pipo three years ago and see say obesity dey affect sex, lead to poor self-image wey dey affext pipo mind ans cause kasala for marriage."

And na Siddharth Mukherjee, a 56-year-old actor wey do bariatric surgery for 2015 na im sabi am pass.

E bin dey work as athlete weigh 80-85kg until accident end im sporting career some years again.

E say, "but I still bin dey chop like sportsman. I chop plenti oily, spicy food and I bin dey like to shack so na so I start to dey add weight till I reach like 188kg".

And as im add weight na so sickness follow am, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and thyroid wahala enta di mata, and wen e dey holiday for 2014, e start to get breathing wahala.

"I bin no fit breathe if I lie down so I start to dey siddon sleep," na wetin e tok. "But Dr Chowbey gimme new life. My weight dey down at generally 96kg. I dey ride bikem I dey act for stage, I fit go holiday.

"Time dey wey I no fit waka for stairs but now I fit waka 17 to 18km for one day, I fit chop sweet, I fit wear fashionable cloth now."

E say to dey fat na curse to am.

Dr Chowbey don dey try for years to ginger goment make dem see obesity as disease but dem no gree.

"Di goment dey busy to control infectious disease and dem dey focus on communicable diseases but dem no dey do anything about lifestyle diseases. But obesity dey hard and e cost to manage am, e dey put weight on di healthcare system".

Some years ago, tok-tok bin dey for "sin tax" wey go increase price for unhealthy food so pipo no go wan buy but sabi pipo say e no go work cos di companies wey dey market dem go squash am.

Dr Kumeran wan make India use di same style dem use for smoking take handle unhealthy eating.

E say if dem dey repeat di kain warnings dem get for smoking for obesity e go chook di message well-well.