In Chandigarh, women are more prone to diabetes - Hindustan Times
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In Chandigarh, women are more prone to diabetes

ByMandeep Kaur Narula, Chandigarh
Nov 26, 2021 02:15 AM IST

National Family Health Survey finds that 18% women have very high or high blood sugar level as compared to 15.9% men in Chandigarh

The prevalence of diabetes among adults in Chandigarh has increased manifold in the past five years, making the UT worst-affected with the disease in the region, data released by the National Family Health Survey-5 has revealed.

Diabetes in Chandigarh: As per the recent National Family Health Survey, 12% women have very high blood sugar level with readings of more than 160 mg/dl. (HT PHOTO)
Diabetes in Chandigarh: As per the recent National Family Health Survey, 12% women have very high blood sugar level with readings of more than 160 mg/dl. (HT PHOTO)

As per the recent survey, 12% of women (in the age group of 15 and above) in Chandigarh have very high blood sugar level with readings of more than 160 mg/dl. Meanwhile, 6% women have high blood sugar levels between 141-160 mg/dl. The data also revealed that 19% women in the city are taking medicine to control their blood sugar.

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The data also revealed that the prevalence of diabetes is lesser in male adults in Chandigarh. Around 7.1% of men have high blood sugar level while 8.8% have very high blood sugar level. Also, 16.6% are on diabetes medication.

The national average for women and men with very high blood sugar level stands at 6.3% and 7.2%, respectively.

In Chandigarh, women are more prone to diabetes
In Chandigarh, women are more prone to diabetes

The prevalence of diabetes in Chandigarh was lower when the last survey (NFHS-4) was conducted in 2015-2016. Only 2.5% women and 4.2% men had very high sugar level, while 5.6% women and 6.9% men had high sugar level.

NFHS-5 (2020-21), conducted by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, is the fifth in the series and provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and each state and UT. The information for the survey was gathered from 761 households, which included 746 women and 104 men, in Chandigarh.

Food habits, sedentary lifestyle major causes

“In Chandigarh, more women are employed as compared to other states. This means, the women are burdened with office and household work, due to which they get less time for exercise and more stress. All these reasons are increasing diabetes among women,” said Dr Sanjay Bhadada, head of the department of endocrinology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

Dr Bhadada said diabetes patients also develop other lifestyle diseases, and it was found that around 60% of the Covid-19 patients at the PGIMER had diabetes. “Diabetes was a major comorbidity that had contributed in Covid-19 fatality rate,” he said.

Dr Anil Bhansali, former head of the endocrinology department at the PGIMER, said: “A study — Chandigarh Urban Diabetic Study — conducted in 2010 showed that 13% adults were diabetic. In 2017, ICMR had also conducted a study that showed 13% of adults (living in urban and rural areas) in Chandigarh were diabetic.”

The major reasons behind high prevalence of this disease are adolescent and adulthood obesity in Chandigarh residents, besides their sedentary lifestyle, he said. “Also, since people of Chandigarh are literate, they go for screening of the disease and high testing reveals high prevalence,” he said.

Dr KP Singh, an endocrinologist, said: “Mostly, people in Chandigarh have diabetic family history and as per a study, 80% of the city residents do not exercise even when they have facilities like beautiful parks and open gyms. Not only this, the residents have busy lifestyles and their habit of consuming fried food, especially at late evening hours, is increasing diabetes.”

Dr Singh added that hypertension and diabetes are interlinked and if a diabetic person doesn’t get hypertension at an early stage, it is likely that 90% of the patients will get hypertension after 10 years. Also, after the Covid-19 outbreak, diabetes prevalence has increased as the virus directly impacts pancreas, he said.

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