Malnutrition to Obesity - The Big Leap

Diabetes mellitus and other lifestyle related diseases like metabolic syndrome are becoming pandemic also in populous countries like China. The twenty first century is witnessing a sharp escalation in the prevalence of these diseases, particularly in developing countries. Although, China is reported to have overtaken India recently in terms of this disease, the high rate of diabetics in India is still a major health issue. According to Dr. Vivian Fonseca, a diabetes expert at Tulane, '' Diabetes has soared in many countries around the world – including China and India – mainly because of the larger calorie intake and reduction in physical activity that come with better economies’.

Then again, the World Health Organization data reveals that ‘cardiovascular disease (CVD) is now more prevalent in India and China than in all economically developed countries in the world combined’.

A closer look will reveal that obesity is an indicator of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and gall bladder disease. There is also the fear that this maybe also be linked to a genetic propensity for Indians to develop obesity? So it is time for the health policymakers to be asking if they should consider obesity to be of national concern and how should they tackle this epidemic?