ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: One in four Pakistani adults aged 15 years or over are overweight or obese, according to the Asian-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) cut off value of 23kg/m2.

A study entitled “Prevalence of overweight and obesity and their association with hypertension and diabetes mellitus in Pakistan” by Dr Tazeen H. Jaffer, head of the section of nephrology and director clinical epidemiology unit of Aga Khan University, confirms that overweight and obesity were a major public health problem in Pakistan.

In addition, strong association was found between obesity and hypertension and diabetes in Pakistani population, highlighting the danger of this under-recognized pandemic.

The association of lower BMI with these disease conditions in the population compared to higher levels of BMI for diagnosis of obesity means that Indo-Asian people were at a greater risk of chronic diseases at lower body weights as compared to Europeans or Americans.

Thus, generally speaking, Pakistani population needs even stricter control of body weight to lower targets than non-Asian counterparts. This is a potential cause of concern seeing the continued trend towards urbanization which will cause adult levels of obesity to escalate. It seems paradoxical that an economically challenged country facing shortage of food would have a high burden of overweight people. However, the association of an “unhealthy” weight with economical deprivation is not so enigmatic. Poor people have limited choices. Many consume large amounts of commercially available cheap, reused oil which is rich in hydrogenated fats and also very energy dense. Further, with progressive industrialization in all sectors, lifestyles have become increasingly sedentary.

Dr Jaffar suggests aiming for a target body weight based on Asian-specific targets and brisk walking for 30 minutes on at least four days a week. Forming walking groups help reinforce the habit.

She also suggests making changes in one’s lifestyle and consuming a healthy diet consisting of seasonal vegetable and fruits and reducing the amount of oil and sugar in diet.

There is ample evidence that weight reduction will help prevent disabilities from strokes and heart attacks.