Obesity is a disease: Experts

Chennai: The number of people with bigger waistlines is increasing over the years, and not many wat­ch the waistline. Wh­en your trousers do not fit anymore, it is a warning sign and if it increases by five inches, then you lose the battle.

On World Anti-Obesity Day, observed on Nove­m­ber 26, doctors pointed out that nearly 30 per cent of all deaths are obesity-related. Not ma­ny acknowledge obesity as potentially morbid.

"Obesity is a disease. Earlier, weight loss surgery was considered a cosmetic procedure. By 2006-07 it became a health-related issue," said Dr Rajkumar Pala­ni­appan, director and senior consultant surgeon, institutes of bari­atrics, Apollo Hos­pitals.

The hospital organised a workshop to obse­r­ve the day and Dr Pala­n­iappan conducted a li­ve laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, an emerging bariatric procedure.

Some metabolic disorders that are linked to obesity are type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic heart disease, high cholesterol and respiratory diseases. Nearly 8,000 bariatric surgeries (for weight reduction) are performed in India and only 40-50 surgeries are being done in TN, said experts.

"According to international standards, bari­at­r­ic surgery is recomme­n­ded for people who have a BMI of more th­an 35 with serious co-mor­b­idities such as diabetes or hypertension and for obese people with a BMI of 40. We also have Asian standards in which the BMI is reduced by 2.5.

So, people with a BMI of 32.5 with co-morbidities and obese people with 37.5 can go for bariatric procedures," explained Dr Palaniappan, adding that Indians have more fat mass and less muscle mass.

While bariatric surgery is for weight loss, metabolic surgery is performed on patients with metabolic problems.

"We recommend the particular type of surgery depending on the person's problems. Countries like Austr­a­­lia, America and Japan, among others, have declared obesity as a disease and so insurance also covers this surgery. But we are yet to declare this and steps are being taken to inc­lude this in insurance cover," said the surgeon.

Explaining various pr­o­cedures, he said in one procedure, hunger part and ghrelin (the hormone specific to As­i­ans which increases h­u­nger) are removed. "Ev­ery meal should consist of 25 per cent carbohydrates, 25 per cent proteins and fat and the rest, vegetables and fruits," he said.

At the workshop, obese people who had undergone bariatric surgeries also shared their experiences.

A dubbing artiste and scriptwriter in Tollywood, Shashank Mouli, said it was a lifestyle changing surgery and that he became diabetic-free after the procedure.