New Delhi: The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)’s recent study has found that men suffer from more health ailments than their counterparts. When it is diabetes, obesity or even hypertension, the male body seems to be more faring worse than their counterparts.
The study found, for instance, that there were far more cases of unhealthy thinness in boys than in girls.
Between the ages of five and nine, about 23.9% boys were unhealthily thin, while 19.1% girls suffered from the same.
The gap increases as the children grow, with 26.9% boys and 19.5% girls being undesirably thin between ages of 10 and 13. While, 26% boys and 14.1% girls were found to be suffering from the malady during their teen years between 14 and 17.
Another study was done on obesity among urban adults, in which, the institute found chronic energy deficiency in men to be around 13%, while it was 11% in women. Notably though, more urban women – 44% - women were found obese than men who lived in urban areas – 34%.
Again, when it came to hypertension, more men – 38.5% – than women – 29% – were found to be suffering. Kerala topped the list in terms of the number of hypertension cases, as 46.6% men and nearly 40% of women reportedly suffered from it.
The institute also conducted a survey on diabetes, a disease being reported with alarming frequency from urban areas.
Of all the states and Union Territories where people were checked for diabetes, the highest number of cases were reported from Puducherry, where 42% men and 30% women were suffering from the ailment. Overall, 28.1% men and 23.3% women were found suffering from this disease.
Also, one percentage point more men were found to have suffered heart attacks than women. Of the respondents, around 1% reported having history of strokes.
The survey also threw up some facts about sanitation and potable water facilities. The state where most people had access to sanitary latrines was Kerala – 99% and last on this list was West Bengal with 51.6% households only with containing sanitary latrines.
As far as potable water is concerned, families in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, followed by Delhi, had maximum number of households with access to clean drinking water. Last on this list was Bihar, where only 22.2% families got safe drinking water.
The institute also conducted a survey on child nutrition – underweight and stunted. The maximum number of underweight children, under five years of age, were found to have been reported from Uttar Pradesh – 43.6%. The state also topped the chart when it came to reporting on the number of children, again under five years of age, with stunting growth related issues – 40.8%. Puducherry reported the least number of cases with just 14.2 % underweight children and 11.6% children suffering from stunted growth.
The Urban Nutrition Data research was carried out between 2015 and 2016 in 16 states. The survey was done by interacting with a total of 1.72 lakh people from 52,577 households. The objectives of the study were to assess “diet and nutritional status of urban population and the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia among the urban people”.
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