Covid-19 and Obesity: Over 65 per cent of young Indians worried about BMI, diabetes, weight loss, reveal Practo insights

Coronavirus and Obesity: More and more people in India, especially the younger generation, have started focussing on obesity. A staggering number of 550 per cent rise was witnessed in queries related to Obesity since last year and over 65 per cent of these queries have been put forward by people in the age category between 21 to 30. More and more people have searched for queries regarding diets, bariatric surgery, and Body mass index (BMI) levels, according to data revealed by Practo.

Practo Health gathered during the period between November 2019 and October 2020 has revealed some interesting insights. Around 550 per cent increase has been witnessed in queries related to obesity from the last year. As many as 70 per cent of diabetes-related queries have come from males. Around 66 per cent of the queries came from the age group of 21-30, 28 per cent of queries came from the age group of 31-40, 3 per cent from the age group of 41-50, 2 per cent from the age group of 51-60, and one per cent from those who aged 60 and above.

Around 35 per cent of all the diabetes-related queries came from non-metro cities and 65 per cent of questions came from metro cities. Among the metro cities, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai rank as the top cities from where the most number of queries came from. Of the non-metro cities, maximum queries have come from Ranchi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Vijayawada, Indore, Guwahati, and Nagpur.

Top searches are weight loss, fat loss, diet management, obesity symptoms and causes, childhood obesity, COVID-19, and obesity and bariatric treatment.

The correlations between Coronavirus and obesity has been one of the most discussed concerns during the pandemic. Several reports have indicated that people with obesity are likely to have other diseases such as diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease which are considered risk factors for severe Coronavirus. Childhood obesity has also become one of the most talked-about topics given the negative impact of lockdown on physical activity, diet, and sleep among children suffering from obesity, Practo said in a statement.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 28 lakh adults’ deaths took place every year due to obesity. Around 44 per cent of diabetes cases, 23 per cent of ischaemic heart diseases, and 7-41 per cent of certain instances of cancer cases happened due to overweight and obesity.