Increasing obesity in rural women linked to sedentary lifestyles, processed foods

Experts cite disrupted sleep cycles, multiple pregnancies among several factors behind rise

- SANKET KOUL & ANEEKA CHATTERJEE

More women in rural India are becoming obese, joining their urban counterparts. A combination of evolving standards of living in rural areas and increasingly sedentary lifestyle may be reasons behind the surge in obesity among rural women, according to medical experts.

Another major reason is inability to lose weight after child delivery, which continues to haunt rural women, especially in their second or third pregnancies.

"We have observed that women continue gaining weight, with the same thing being repeated during the next pregnancy. As a result, that site (abdominal obesity) gets accumulated forever, making it very difficult to lose that weight," Pradeep Chowbey, chairman, Max Institute of Laparoscopic, Endoscopic, Bariatric Surgery and Allied Surgical Specialties at MSSH Saket said.