Surat: The waistline of Gujarat’s women appears to be growing faster than ever, with the latest National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), 2023-24, recording a sharp rise in overweight and obesity among women in four major districts — Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara — compared with NFHS-5 data from 2019-21.According to the data released in Aug this year, Ahmedabad recorded the highest proportion of obese women at 47.6%, followed by Rajkot at 44.5%, Surat at 42.2% and Vadodara at 35.9%, with experts blaming sedentary life and poor eating habits as the key reasons.In NFHS-5, the corresponding figures were 30.1% for Ahmedabad, 19.5% for Rajkot, 21% for Surat and 20.9% for Vadodara.A comparison of the two surveys shows that Surat recorded the steepest increase, at 68.12%, in the proportion of obese women. Ahmedabad saw a 58.13% rise, while Rajkot recorded a 58.92% increase. Vadodara reported the lowest increase among the four districts, at 28.67%.The trend is even more striking when compared with the state as a whole. The proportion of obese women in Gujarat rose from 22.7% in NFHS-5 to 31.1% in NFHS-6 — an increase of 41.4%. Except for Vadodara, all three other major districts recorded increases higher than the state average.For the survey, a woman was classified as overweight or obese when her Body Mass Index (BMI) was 25.0 kg/m² or higher.Pradip Dalwadi, a Surat-based endocrinologist, attributed the trend largely to changing lifestyles. “Women are becoming increasingly obese due to lifestyle factors. They do not follow a proper diet and are increasingly adopting modern eating patterns. At the same time, many do not exercise or work out regularly,” he said.
