Obesity in the Indian population

Obesity has attained pandemic proportions globally, and now rates are exploding in South Asian countries. In an Indian setting, obesity ranges from apparently thin looking individuals with normal weight obesity (NWO), to those at the far end of the spectrum with morbid obesity.

I was not doing justice in my clinical practice
by using conventional obesity indicators.

Dr. Nitin Kapoor Dr. Nitin Kapoor, an endocrine clinician, found conventional obesity indicators were not meeting patient needs. He researched clinical and genetic indicators of obesity, and their role in identifying metabolic disorders in the Asian Indian population. Dr Kapoor's PhD study will to help change policy and practice of obesity assessment in the Indian population.

This is the first study in India to assess the prevalence of normal weight obesity and to evaluate the risks associated with these characteristics. Dr. Kapoor reviewed the impact of a lifestyle intervention and introduced a cost-effective method of assessing visceral adipose tissue.

Almost one-third of this South Asian population, at high risk for T2D, had normal weight obesity. The significantly higher cardiometabolic risk associated with increased adiposity even in lower BMI individuals has important implications for recognition in clinical practice.

Dr Nitin Kapoor received the Anil R Sheth Award at the 2020 Endocrine Society of India Annual Awards.

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