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Risk of developing NCDs in later life among the overweight and obese women in India: Insights from a nationally representative longitudinal study

Debasis Barik, National Council for Applied Economic Research
Sonalde B. Desai, University of Maryland

The NFHS has documented a continuous rise of mean BMI among Indian adults in consecutive surveys, leading to higher estimate of overweight/obesity. Beside the rich, overweight/obesity has grown significantly among the poor. Literature suggests a closer link between obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), but evidence is weaker from developing countries. Since progression to NCDs might not happen immediately to those obese, establishing any relationship between the two becomes difficult using cross-sectional data. Using a panel of eligible women from India Human Development Survey, we tried to identify the group of reproductive age women, who were at greater risk of becoming obese within seven years from first round of the survey and also assessed the likelihood of developing non-communicable diseases among the obese women by BMI status. Results indicate that the risk of developing NCDs is much higher among women from richer households. However, once a woman becomes overweight/obese, she gradually develops either one or more NCDs. The rich-poor difference becomes insignificant at that point. This poses a policy challenge as obesity has grown rapidly among the poor in last decade.

Keywords: Life course analysis, Longitudinal studies, Health and morbidity, Panel studies

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P16.