Prevalence of obesity and associated hypertension and diabetes in Delhi, metropolitan city of India

Abstract Background Obesity is a global health burden and is now described as ‘New World Metabolic Syndrome’. Worldwide, its prevalence is increasing geometrically due to changing lifestyle and is understood to be a multifactorial disorder. Objective To ascertain the fraction of obese population in Delhi, a metropolitan city of India. Materials and methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on people ( n  = 652) of different age groups (11 years and above) belonging to different areas of Delhi. A questionnaire was prepared including fields such as age, sex, weight, height, food habits, qualification, occupation, exercise, disease, and medication. The data were analyzed, and correlation between obesity and various fields was drawn. Results Out of 652 subjects, 30.4% were overweight and 12.12% were obese. Number of obese subjects was maximum in the age group of 41–50 years, with more males and females in age groups of 11–30 and 31–50 years, respectively. Along with obesity, hypertension (25.9%) and diabetes (19.1%) were most commonly associated. Non-vegetarian diet preference was positively correlated with obesity. Food frequency did not have any significant correlation with obesity. Subjects with sedentary lifestyle were more prone to obesity. Conclusion Number of obese subjects is high in Delhi, and it is positively correlated with age. Obesity was positively associated with many diseases especially diabetes and hypertension. Thus, there is an urgent need to educate the masses regarding the benefits of exercise as awareness alone can help to manage this global epidemic.