Ahead of World Health Day on April 7, DNA speaks to doctors to find out how obesity is the top lifestyle disorder that requires some urgent battling. With awareness and concerted action, obesity can be prevented, say doctors.
Radhika Pillai* consulted her doctor asking him to treat her sleepless nights. “I haven’t slept in 15 years,” she told her doctor. This homemaker spent many days feeling drowsy and the nights just got worse — she would restlessly toss and turn.
The problem, it turned out, was actually obesity. “She had been putting on weight for the past 20 years. She weighed 140 kg when she consulted me. Her body mass index (BMI) ratio was 46 kg/m square,” says Dr Shabeer Ahmed, obesity surgeon, Wockhardt Hospital, Bangalore. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kg) divided by the square of his/her height (in metres). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is considered to be obese. A person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight. Considering this calculation, Pillai was way off the mark. “Pillai’s condition had worsened because her obesity problem had led to sleep apnoea, a serious sleeping disorder. She had to be operated on as she had been suffering from this problem for the longest time,” says Dr Ahmed. The surgery made Pillai’s stomach pouch smaller in order to make her eat less — she lost 60 kg after the surgery. “Following the weight loss, she told me that she finally slept well,” recalls Dr Ahmed.
Being overweight and obese are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Once considered a problem affecting only the affluent, obesity is now dramatically on the rise in low and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. “For years, humans survived with basic food and water. But today, the sudden increase in the food options has made man victim to lifestyle disorders like obesity,” says Dr Vivek Jawali, cardiac surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals.
According to the statistical data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is believed that by 2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults across the globe will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. While morbidly obese people need to undergo surgery to improve their health, those that are only overweight or rapidly drifting towards the obese side can reverse the problem with a few lifestyle changes. The changes are what we know of already — eating right, regular exercise and dollops of will power. One can make a start by being calorie conscious, say doctors.
“Even today, despite so much awareness, my patients tell me that they don’t eat too much and don’t know why they have put on so many kilos,” reveals Dr G Srikanth, consultant surgical gastroenterologist, Manipal Hospital. It is believed that 2 per cent Indians are morbidly obese and the percentage is only on the rise.
Mahesh Singh*, 30, weighed 178 kg and underwent surgery recently. “He didn’t have any medical condition that made him put on those many kgs,” said Dr Srikanth, adding, “Mahesh had gained more than 100 kg at college and had to undergo surgery.”
The trick is to check the problem when it’s not too late. The good news is that it’s possible. All it needs is some will power.
*Name changed on request
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