Overweight/obesity risks and prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in North Eastern India: An analysis using seemingly unrelated probit model

Abstract

It would be reasonable to hypothesize that common unobserved factors, such as psychological stress and anxiety, as well as genetic and environmental factors, simultaneously influence the tendency for overweight or obesity and the prevalence of chronic disease. The paper tries to examine the joint influence of an individual's and socio-economic characteristics in determining overweight or obesity and chronic disease. Methods: The sample comprised of 112,062 male and female participants age 15-49 years. For the simultaneous joint estimation approach we employ a seemingly unrelated probit model with and without control for endogeneity.Results: The non-zero correlation coefficient obtained from the analysis reveals that overweight or obesity is related to diabetes and hypertensions, indicating the existence of unmeasurable individual factors that commonly affect the propensity to diabetes and hypertension and overweight or obesity. A 10% increase in overweight and obesity causes increment of 4% in diabetes, 4.9% in hypertension. Further, among the overweight or obese individual, a 10% increase in overweight and obesity causes increment of 4.7% in diabetes, and 6.5% in hypertension in the study area. Conclusion:The study indicates presence of unobserved factors that simultaneously affect overweight/obesity and prevalence of both diabetes and hypertension. Policy and health promotion programme should also give special attention to the unmeasurable factors (for example: genetic factors, psychological stress and long working hour) that commonly influence the risk of overweight or obesity and chronic diseases.

Identifying the latent classes of modifiable risk behaviours among diabetic and hypertensive individuals in Northeastern India: a population-based cross-sectional study

“…Also, a spurt in the prevalence of hypertension has been observed among individuals who consumed more than average amount of fructose 65. Evidence from a cross-sectional study in NE India supports the positive correlation between overweight or obesity with diabetes and hypertension 66 27. The plausible explanation is that both sugar sweetened beverages and artificial sweetened beverages are associated with the development of metabolic derangements that in turn might lead to elevated BP 67.…”

“…25 26 Notably, previous studies have examined patients with diabetes or hypertension as a single homogeneous group without considering the possible heterogeneity existing within the population. 27 Most of the existing studies on health risk behaviours have emphasised only changing a single unhealthy behaviour. 26 28 However, interventions that simultaneously target these unhealthy behaviours are necessary from the policy perspective.…”

“…The majority of studies reported a higher prevalence of smoking, excess alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and poor diet among people with diabetes or hypertension than those without diabetes or hypertension 25 26. Notably, previous studies have examined patients with diabetes or hypertension as a single homogeneous group without considering the possible heterogeneity existing within the population 27. Most of the existing studies on health risk behaviours have emphasised only changing a single unhealthy behaviour 26 28.…”

Bayesian Spatial Modeling of Diabetes and Hypertension: Results from the South Africa General Household Survey

“…First, the set of covariates used was that most often considered in NCD risk evaluations. However, some relevant factors, such as dietary habits, physical exercise, smoking status, biomarker data, and alcohol consumption [ 12 , 14 ], which may increase the risk of hypertension and diabetes, were not captured, due to the unavailability of data. Thus, to implement this methodology for future work, we advocate the inclusion of those relevant available variables.…”

“…In line with this, studies have revealed that socioeconomic factors (such as low levels of educational status and high household wealth index) and demographic factors (such as age and gender—specifically, male) increase the risk of hypertension and diabetes [ 12 , 13 ]. Similarly, lifestyle behaviors (such as smoking and alcohol consumption) and dietary habits also significantly influence the risk of hypertension and diabetes [ 12 , 14 , 15 ]. Other studies and systematic reviews between 1980 and 2018 have shown an overall estimate of 57% for the frequency of hypertension [ 16 ].…”