Health Minister J P Nadda informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that Punjabis are the most obese people in the country, while men from Tripura and women from Meghalaya are the leanest.
According to the National Family Health Survey, the number of people suffering from obesity and diabetes within the age group of 20 to 79 years has risen from 65 million in 2013 to 66.8 million in 2014 and 69.1 million in 2015.
India is the third most obese country in the world with growing obesity among children and adolescents (between 13-18 years—from 16% to 29% over the last five years) mainly from the urban areas.
According to data presented by Nadda, men and women from Punjab are the most obese followed by those from Kerala and Delhi reporting a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25.
In Tripura, only 4.8% of the men and 7.1% of the women are obese. While in Meghalaya, only 5.9% of the men and 5.3% of the women are overweight.
