Thiruvananthapuram: The recently released National Family Health Survey for the year 2019-20 have showed that the number of obese persons in Kerala is on the rise, both in male and female categories.

For women, the obesity rate in Kerala is 38.1 percentage in the age group of 15 to 49 years. Of this, 40.4% of women are from urban areas and 36% from rural background.

The number of men recorded with obesity is 36.4% in the age group of 15-49 while the national average is only 24 percent. Of this, 40.1% of men are from the city and 33.2% from rural areas.

The survey was conducted on the basis of the body mass index (weight as per height method). In 2015 survey, the percentage of women with obesity was 32.4 and while the same was 28.5 for men.

According to the survey, 70.7% of women and 56.8% of men in Kerala are pot-bellied. Only 56.7% of women and 47.7% of men are pot-bellied as per the national average. The number of pot-bellied women are 71.1% in urban areas. In rural areas, it is 70.2%.

Meanwhile, 9.7% of women in urban areas and 10.1% of women in rural areas are underweight. Among men, 6.9% from urban areas and 12.7% from rural areas are underweight.

High BP in Kerala

Kerala is above the national average in terms of people facing issues related to unsafe blood pressure. The survey points out that 15.5% of women and 19.2 % of men, both above the age of 15 years, have health issues in this regard.

The number of diabetic cases are also high in Kerala compared to the national average. The number of diabetic patients who take routine medicine are 27% among men and 24.8 % among women. The national average is 15.6 % (men) and 13.5 % (women)

Higher alcohol consumption

In alcohol consumption, the only solace is that the number of women who consume alcohol is less in Kerala compared to the national average. It is only 0.2 % in Kerala while the national average is 1.3 %.

But among men, there is a higher consumption of liquor as usual. Men taking liquor above 15 years of age is 19.9 % whereas the national average is only 18.8 %.

Children fall prey to junk food

The obesity and potbelly among children under the age of five years is increasing at the all-India level. The number of such cases has gone up from 2.1 % to 3.4 % in the country.

The main reason for higher level of obesity among children is attributed to the increasing consumption of junk food containing high amount of sugar and avoiding food rich with fibre and protein.