Descriptive epidemiology of body mass index of an urban adult population in western India

Abstract

Study objective: To describe height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) of the adult urban population in Mumbai, western India and to estimate the prevalence and severity of thinness and overweight in this population. To describe the association of BMI with education, age, and tobacco habits in an urban Indian population. Design: Cross sectional representative survey of 99 598 adults (40 071 men and 59 527 women). Setting: The survey was carried out in the city of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) in western India. Participants: Men and women aged >35 years who were residents of the main city of Mumbai. Main results: The mean height, weight, and BMI were 161.0 (SD 6.7) cm, 56.7 (SD 11.0) kg, and 21.8 (SD 3.8) kg/m 2 for men and 148.0 (SD 6.2) cm, 49.8 (SD 11.2) kg, and 22.7 (SD 4.7) kg/m 2 for women, respectively. Some 19% of men and women were thin (BMI<18.5 kg/m 2 ), while 19% of men and 30% of women were overweight (BMI>25kg/m 2 ). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that age, level of education, and tobacco use were independently associated with BMI. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for thinness (BMI<18.5 kg/m 2 ) were OR 6.52, 95%CI 5.38 to 7.89 for men and OR 4.83, 95%CI 3.71 to 6.28 for women, respectively, (p<0.001) for the lowest level of education (illiterate group). The OR and 95%CI for overweight were 2.25, 2.20 to 2.58 for college educated men and 1.90, 1.64 to 2.20 for college educated women, respectively, p<0.001. Both smoking (2.33, 2.09 to 2.59; 2.89, 1.77 to 4.72 for men and women, respectively, p<0.001) and smokeless tobacco use (1.65, 1.52 to 1.80; 2.26, 2.14 to 2.38 for men and women, respectively p<0.0001) were significantly associated with low BMI. Conclusions: Sequelae of thinness and overweight represent major public health problems. The results of this study, indicating an equal prevalence of thinness and overweight in an urban area and their association with age, level of education, and tobacco use raise concerns of an emerging public health crisis in urban India.

Hypertension prevalence and blood pressure trends in 88 653 subjects in Mumbai, India

“…Details of methodology have been reported. 5 Voters' lists were used to enrol the subjects and the survey was confined to the main city-population density of 48 830 inhabitants/km 2 , from population of 3.42 million in an area of about 70 km 2 . All individuals aged 35 years and over were approached by investigators for interview and BP measurements.…”

Geography of underweight and overweight among women in India: A multilevel analysis of 3204 neighborhoods in 26 states

“…In developed countries, for instance in the United States, overweight and obesity disproportionately impact those having low incomes, having low education levels, and belonging to minority race/ ethnicity (Drewnowski and Specter, 2004;USDHHS, 2001;Mokdad et al, 2003). In developing countries, such as India, nutritional status is related to levels of education, standard of living, and social status such that undernutrition is associated with low individual socioeconomic status (SES) and overnutrition is associated with high SES (Shukla et al, 2002;Griffiths and Bentley, 2005;Osmani and Sen, 2003).…”

Distribution and correlates of Body Mass Index in the elderly residents of the Colombo District

“…In contrast the prevalence of underweight among Indian male and female elderly was much higher than these figures. Shukla et al (9) in their study on urban Indian adults found that 24-36% and 24-48% of males and females aged 65years and above were underweight. In a recent study it has been reported that 11% of healthy elderly Pakistani men are underweight (18).With respect to the prevalence of overweight and obesity, strict comparisons across Asian studies are not possible due the differences in BMI cut-offs that have been used to define these two entities.…”

“…It has been reported that in many developing countries there is a double burden of malnutrition; a high prevalence of both underweight and overweight/obesity (9). In order to determine whether a similar situation exists among the Sri Lankan elderly, it is necessary to obtain information about the distribution of BMI in this group.…”