A recent study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that one in eight women aged 15-49 years in India, one in ten in Myanmar, and one in 15 in Nepal suffer from both anaemia and overweight/obesity.
The study was done by Dr. Jayalakshmi Rajeev, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod along with MPH student Sewor Cristian, MPH student, and Prof. Srinivasan Kannan, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum.
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Situation in India
The results of the study also indicate a wide disparity in the occurrence of the coexistence of anaemia and overweight/obesity within these countries, particularly in India.
In nine out of 36 states/union territories of India, the prevalence was more than 15%, and in eight, more than 10%. Women belonging to developed states (as per the human development index) and Union Territories had a higher risk (Puducherry - 25.8%, Chandigarh - 25.7%, Punjab - 22.6%, Tamil Nadu - 20.3%) than those from less developed states (Nagaland - 3.9%, Meghalaya - 5.6%, Rajasthan - 6%, Jharkhand - 6.8%).
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Other countries and variables
In Myanmar, the highest prevalence is reported in the Yangon region (15.3%), followed by Taninthayi (13.3%) and Sagaing regions (12.8%), and the least in the Chin region (4%). Among the three countries, Nepal had the least prevalence (7%). The highest prevalence in Nepal is reported in Province 1 (9.0%) and the least in Province 6 (2.5%).
The prevalence of the coexistence of anaemia and overweight/obesity among women increased as age advanced and as they moved from poorest to richest wealth quintiles.
Reasons
This may be attributed to the changing trends of nutrition transition, which has led to increased consumption of fat, salt, sugar, and processed food consumption across the continent of Asia. While rich women can afford to access expensive junk foods that have added fat, salt, and sugar content, poor women are forced to consume cheap diets with limited nutrients. This indicates the inequity in the occurrence of this health outcome.
Place of residence and education were also found associated with the coexistence of anaemia and overweight/obesity in India and Myanmar as women from urban areas and those who are educated had higher risks than their respective counterparts.
Negating existing hypothesis
The prevalence of anaemia among women was found to be relatively higher than that of overweight/obesity across all the countries. This observation seems to somewhat negate the hepcidin-mediated hypothesis, which suggests that obesity leads to anaemia in which it was expected that overweight/obese prevalence should have been higher than anaemia.
Therefore, more studies are needed to establish causal associations and also to implement need-based prevention and curative strategies.
