Chennai/ Coimbatore: In a shocking finding, women in urban Tamil Nadu have been among the most affected by Type 2 diabetes in India. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among urban women above 20 years of age is about 12.5 per cent in Tamil Nadu, which is the second highest in the country next to the Union Territory of Chandigarh which has 14.8 urban women with Type 2 diabetes. Next comes, undivided Andhra Pradesh with 11.8 per cent of its urban women afflicted with Type 2 diabetes.
Tamil Nadu has the second highest incidence of Type 2 diabetes among rural women with 7 per cent its women affected, according to the data released by the Union health minister J.P. Nadda in Parliament recently
According to the ICMR- Indian Diabetes B study which conducted a detailed epidemiological study across 13 states and Union Territories, the rising incidence of diabetes also corresponds to the rising obesity among women and their sedentary lifestyle and junk food craze.
Expressing a word of caution, doctors told DC the increased prevalence is directly connected to rising obesity. “Obesity rate is higher in women than men. In the screening tests that we have conducted in Vellore, we have found that nearly 50 per cent of women have a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than the normal value of 25,” said Nihal Thomas, Professor and head of department of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, Christian Medical College, Vellore.
R.M. Anjana, Director, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, who was part of the survey, said though there was no significant difference in diabetes prevalence among men and women in India, the study did reveal that urban citizens and more importantly working professionals, were more susceptible to the disease.
