Now Reading: Rising obesity in Indian women signals pre-pregnancy health push
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Rising obesity in Indian women signals pre-pregnancy health push
Nearly one in three Indian women (30.7%) aged 15-49 is now overweight or obese, up from one in four (24%) five years ago, according to the National Family Health Survey-6 data for…
The Story in Brief
Nearly one in three Indian women (30.7%) aged 15-49 is now overweight or obese, up from one in four (24%) five years ago, according to the National Family Health Survey-6 data for 2023-24. Among men in the same age group, the proportion rose from 22.9% to 27.3%. The trend has prompted doctors to push for pre-conception care, arguing that checking health before pregnancy can improve outcomes for the mother and child.
At SDM College of Ayurveda in Udupi, a structured pre-conception programme based on the ancient garbhadana samskara concept has been counselling couples from across south India. The approach includes dietary advice, lifestyle changes, and traditional therapies tailored around factors like fertility timing and reproductive tract health. Doctors stress that such interventions must remain individualised and clinically supervised.
The Indian Opinion
The jump from 24% to 30.7% overweight or obese women in just five years demands more than lifestyle tips on Instagram. Normalising clinical pre-conception checks, as Ayurveda's garbhadana samskara suggests, could close the gap between awareness and action. But will state clinics, already stretched, offer this as routine, or will it remain a niche paid programme in Udupi? The NFHS-7 numbers, due in 2028, will tell us if fixing maternal health before pregnancy actually reverses the curve.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
