Doctors worry about obesity in Indians

Doctors worry about obesity in Indians

PUNE: Obesity has acquired an epidemic status with increasing incidents coming to light these days. Recently, a survey of 863 bariatric and metabolic surgeons from 67 countries including India was published in the journal of obesity surgery. Doctors report that more than 20,000 bariatric procedures were performed in India in 2018. About 56 surgeons from India also participated in this survey.

Dr Aparna Govil from Mumbai was one of them. As a leading expert in her field, she said that there is more need to spread awareness about treatment options to obesity in India. Speaking about the recently published paper, Dr Govil said that bariatric surgery procedures have emerged as valid treatment options for treatment of clinically severe obesity.

“More than 20,000 bariatric procedures were performed in India in 2018. As the number of procedures grows, as the surgical community it is our endeavour to make these procedures better. Though the complication rate is very less, we wanted to assess the worldwide practices to see if we can make it even better and safer for our patients. That was the objective and significance of this study,” said Dr Govil. She further added that  56 Indian surgeons responded to this survey. Indian diaspora recognising the problem

Indians surgeons were the third-largest responders in the entire group. This indicates that firstly India is recognising the scourge of obesity.

Dr Govil said that bariatric and metabolic surgery is now better accepted and there is more awareness about it amongst medical professionals as well as the community. More surgeons are also taking up bariatric surgery as an option.

“This survey also throws light upon the fact that Indian surgeons are academically oriented and are willing to participate in exercises that lead to the betterment of the speciality and thus lead to better outcomes for patients,” said Dr Govil.

NEW SURGICAL INTERVENTIONS
Dr Govil said that although awareness has increased, there is a long way to go. “Surgery has changed a lot. From large open incisions, today we are performing surgery through tiny laparoscopic punctures. We have endoscopic procedures, robotic surgery and single-incision surgery. Surgery is not as painful as before, it is also much safer and has very good outcomes. I always tell my patients that the pain of surgery is nothing compared to the life long pain due to obesity and it’s related diseases,” said Dr Govil.

UNDERNUTRITION AND OVERNUTRITION
Obesity is growing at a very rapid rate in India. Owing to the burgeoning population India has the third-largest number of people suffering from obesity in the world.

“Unfortunately obesity is affecting the poor more than the rich, unlike the common perception. India has long been fighting a battle with undernutrition but now we face a dual problem of undernutrition on one hand and overnutrition on another,” said Dr Govil.

POINTS TO PONDER
- “More than 20,000 bariatric procedures were performed in India in 2018,” said Dr Govil.
- Indian surgeons were the third-largest responders in the survey.

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