Published: January 23, 2010

Obesity Increasing Among Kashmiri Adults

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Srinagar, Jan 23: A study conducted by Kashmir's leading hospital - SK Institute of Medical Sciences Soura - has revealed that obesity is becoming increasingly common in the younger population and even in children.

To ascertain the burden of obesity among young Kashmiris, the researchers involved several thousand young men and women aged between 20 and 40 years as its sample.

The research established that 17.4 per cent of the population studied had overweight-obesity and the finding have been published recently in a reputed international medical journal 'Diabetes Research & Clinical Practice'.

"There is an urgent need to develop an action plan as well as a health strategy for controlling obesity and its consequences among Kashmiri population before it becomes an epidemic like that observed in Indian metro cities," Director SKIMS, Dr Abdul Hamid Zargar emphasized.

Zargar said the overall 17.4 per cent of the population studied had overweight-obesity with the rates being similar in men and women.

This study was conducted by a team of endocrinologists comprising Shariq Rashid Masoodi, Abdul Ahad Wani, Arshad Iqbal Wani, Mir Iftikhar Bashir and Bashir Ahmad Laway.

Dr Zargar said obesity is a mounting public health problem in Kashmir Valley where the general perception is that obesity is not a common problem.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.