While alcohol intake and thyroid issues among Indians seem to have reduced over the past year, a new health report has detailed a concerning increase in levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes, despite fitness and health becoming a nationwide area of interest during the Covid-19 lockdown. As per the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) Score, 1 in 2 Indians is either in the ‘High Risk’ or ‘Borderline’ category. This is a massive 12 per cent improvement from last year’s figures where 62 per cent of Indians fell into the ‘Unhealthy’ category.

According to GOQii’s latest India Fit Report 2021, the majority of people can become healthy by making a few adjustments to their lifestyle. Reduction in commute time and lockdown probably allowed Indians to focus more on their health and making their immune system stronger. From a gender perspective, men are healthier in comparison to women. From an age perspective, the younger generation is unhealthier in comparison to the older generation.

Blood Pressure

About 15 per cent of users have reported high BP in 2020 in comparison to 13.4 per cent in 2019. This figure, according to the report, has steadily increased over the last 4 years. About 35 per cent of users also reported this disease runs in the family which is a significant figure. Blood pressure cases among older adults are just triple those in adults. Safe to say, then, that people above 45 are at more risk of having hypertension.

Diabetes

An analysis conducted by a full-stack digital ecosystem for diabetes care and management revealed that the average pre-pandemic fasting sugar levels in January till mid-February was 138 mg/dl whereas in March till mid-April it rose to 165 mg/dl. One-third claim this disease runs in the family. The percentage of those suffering from diabetes went triple, from adults to older adults.

Cholesterol

About 13 per cent of users reported high cholesterol, a figure that has remained stable for the past two years. On the other hand, only 4 per cent mentioned they had heart issues which is a major decrease from 8.6 per cent in 2019.

                Source: IANS