PANAJI
Despite its small size, Goa has beat the all India average in terms of number of adults suffering from obesity, high blood sugar and alcohol consumption, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4) for the year 2015-16.
The all India data that was released last week, shows women who were overweight or were obese as 20.7 per cent of the women population in India, while men with a Body Mass Index (BMI) higher than 25 kilograms per square meter, an indication of being overweight was 18.6 per cent.
Goa in comparison registered 33.5 per cent of women and 32.6 per cent men to be overweight. The numbers for Goa show a steep rise from the last NFHS survey conducted in 2005-06 where overweight women was 12.6 per cent and overweight men was 9.3 per cent of the State population.
Women with below normal BMI (less than 18.5 kilograms per square meter) were 14.7 percent and men were 10.8 percent. This figure has decreased from NFHS 3 numbers of 27.9 per cent for women and 24.7 percent for men.
Goa also fared poorly on the count of those suffering from diabetes. Blood sugar levels above 140 mg/dl are considered high and that above 160 mg/dl is considered to be very high. By these standards, women in Goa with high blood sugar level were 8.9 per cent and those with very high blood sugar level were 5.2 percent. India’s average for women with high blood sugar levels were 5.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent from very high sugar levels.
Men on the other hand, contributed to a bigger share with 12.3 percent men in Goa suffering from high blood sugar and 7.3 percent from very high blood sugar levels. India’s average for men was 7.9 percent as high blood sugar and 3.8 percent as having very high blood sugar levels.
The survey also took into account the percentage of women and men who consume alcohol. In this area too, Goa beat national figures with a huge number of men consuming alcohol compared to those in the country.
44.7% men were found to consume alcohol; the national average is 29.3 percent. Women consuming alcohol in the state was found to be 4.2 percent while the national average was 1.2 percent.
