Lifestyle diseases taking their toll in Pune, reveals study

A study by two German researchers has revealed that infectious and chronic diseases are prevalent in all socio-economic strata in Pune. Besides, lifestyle diseases like diabetes and stress are increasing in the city.

Carsten Butsch and Mareike Kroll studied the health status of socio-economic groups in Pune for over four years. They made a presentation of their findings at a workshop on health and environment at Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Institute of Environment Education and Research (BVIEER) on Friday. The two-day workshop, organised by BVIEER and Cologne University, Germany, will conclude on Saturday.

The researchers stressed on the need for a holistic approach by the local government. The study covered the upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, slum areas and temporary slum areas. From each class 1,000 people were taken as sample, while detailed interviews of experts, doctors and Pune Municipal Corporation officials were conducted.

The study stressed on the need to look at temporary slums — mainly comprising labourers’ families, which constitute a major part of the city’s population and suggested their inclusion in health planning.

“Pune is an emerging megacity. High urbanisation dynamics is leading to congestion of infrastructure and the physical environment in megacities. The effect of these dynamics on human health is the focus of the project,” said Butsch.

The findings showed that diseases related to the circulatory system had gone up in the last few years. “While 20.8% of the total deaths in the city occurred due to these problems in 1991, in recent years the percentage has gone up to 29%,” said Kroll.

Parasitic diseases were the second major reason for deaths in the city. The incidence of tuberculosis was found to be high, not only in the lower income groups, but also in the upper class.

“Unhealthy lifestyle too has led to degradation of health in the city. Cases of diabetes, blood pressure and stress are going up,” said Kroll. Stress-related problems are increasing among youngsters, particularly those in the information technology field.

Health disparities can be found due to economic inequality. Malnutrition persists among the slum residents as the diet does not include sufficient vegetables and fruits. The health condition in temporary slums is still worse.

Butsch stated that while availability of health infrastructure and services were the positive effects of urbanisation, the negative impacts included environmental degradation, lack of hygiene and overstress of the health system.

He said a holistic approach towards health and risk factors by the local governance was the need of the hour.