Air India cracks the whip on obesity - grounds 57 cabin crew members

Air India has cracked the whip on obesity and has grounded 57 cabin crew members - most of them are air hostesses. Unless they can get back in shape quickly, they will be assigned ground jobs permanently and a ground job means loss of flying allowance which varies between Rs 35,000 and Rs 50,000 a month.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 January 2017.

As indicated by the airline, these crew members had a higher-than-permitted body mass index (BMI, the ratio of weight and height of an individual) and have been asked to lose weight. They hve been given deadlines and, since they could not meet the deadlines, they were assigned ground jobs.
Overweight cabin crew are declared temporarily unfit for six months. If they do not meet the BMI requirements in 18 months, they are termed permanently unfit.
More than two years ago, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had introduced strict requirements for cabin crew's weight, vision and hearing. Under the guidelines, the ideal BMI for a male cabin crew is 18-25 while it is 18-22 for female crew.


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Hyderabadi biryani is delicious but dangerous - consume in limited doses

A survey conducted by the National Family Health Survey-4 of 766 households consisting of 830 women has revealed that 47.9% Hyderabadi women in the 14-49 age-group were obese. It could be attributed to Hyderabad's iconic biryani and high-calorie cuisine.
Such food is addictive, but is turning out to be a recipe for doom for a majority of city women. They gorge on the delicacies, but lack exercise. Binge eating without exercise have made them the most obese in the country - they have overtaken their counterparts in other Indian cities on the BMI index.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 17 December 2016.

The survey shows that women of Hyderabad have beaten men on the obesity chart - only 33.7% men surveyed in the city were found obese. (Those with a body mass index (BMI) higher than 25 kgm2 are termed overweight). When compared to other cities it is seen that obesity among women is 40.7% in Kolkata, 34% in Mumbai, 33.6% in Chennai and 33.4% in Bengaluru.
The study feels that a portion of the blame can be attributed to easy access to junk food accompanied by a sedentary lifestyle. They love to order tasty unhealthy food or get a cab at the doorstep instead of walking. The consequences are disastrous as obesity is a getaway to diseases like diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, lung disorders and early arthritis. What's worse, there are no effective medication to reduce weight.


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Youth in Delhi are obese due to alcohol, junk food and carefree city lifestyle

A study has discovered that the youth of Delhi are obese and many of them do not want to admit it. Alcohol, junk food and carefree city lifestyle are pushing these youths in Delhi and neighboring regions towards obesity and, the worst part is that, a majority of them do not consider it as a disorder or are even aware of the health risks it entails.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 4 September 2016.

The study was conducted by a third-party on behalf of Max Healthcare across all zones of Delhi and NCR in order to investigate attitudes and experiences of general Delhi population towards obesity and weight-loss surgery. The study covered 1,000 people from Delhi and neighboring region, in the age group of 20-45 over the last one month.
The survey revealed that over 80 per cent of the respondents (both men and women) said they had a Body-Mass Index (BMI) of over 25 kg/sq m, but only about 21 per cent considered themselves as obese or overweight. The normal limit for BMI (body weight/height squared) is 22.5 kg/sq m but, youth in Delhi marked themselves as "not obese" eve when the BMI showed 27.5.
This is attributed to alcohol, and junk food which has become part of the carefree urban lifestyle. And, the reason of worry is that majority of the respondents (70 per cent) did not know that hypertension is associated with obesity, or that it could trigger diabetes. Moreover, 65.4 per cent men as against 73.6 per cent women didn't know that obesity could lead to joint problems, 93.5 per cent men versus 76.8 per cent women didn't know about kidney problems with obesity. And, 50 per cent men versus 63 per cent women agreed that obesity can be a cause for infidelity in a relationship.


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Obesity among Chinese kids is due to junk foods - findings of a 29-year-old survey

Obesity among Chinese kids is due to junk foods - these are the findings of a 29-year-old survey conducted on kids in China's eastern Shandong province. It has been revealed that 17 percent of boys younger than 19 were obese in 2014, and that of girls was nine percent - these are up from under one percent for both genders in 1985. Obviously, the researchers have raised the red flag hinting at an obesity explosion among children in rural China. This is attributed to a Western-style diet that is high in both sugar and carbohydrates.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 27 April 2016.

The data is based on six government surveys of some 28,000 rural school children (aged 7-18) in Shandong. It is seen that the percentage of overweight boys had grown from 0.7 percent to 16.4 percent, and girls from 1.5 percent to nearly 14 percent. The study had used different measures of Body Mass Index (BMI) for overweight and obesity as compared to the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard.
The experts of Shandong Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have indicated that China has experienced rapid socioeconomic and nutritional changes in the past 30 years. In China, people have got into the habit of eating more and are, also, less physically active than they were in the past. Moreover, the traditional Chinese diet has changed to embrace one that is high in fat and calories and low in fiber. A caution has been sounded that the popularity of the Western lifestyle will cost lives because of an escalation of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
In the opinion of WHO - being overweight brings about a major risk factor for heart disease apart from stroke, diabetes, and some cancers.


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Air India facing a weighty problem in Chennai - 295 crew members are overweight

Air India in Chennai base is stuck with a weighty problem because, over the last 5 years, 295 of its crew members are overweight and have been asked to lose weight. The ability to flash a prefect smile is not the only criterion to be a cabin crew member, weight also in important.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 7 March 2016.

This information has emerged following an RTI application filed by OnlineRTI.com - out of the 295, four had to be removed permanently from flying duty after they failed to maintain the required Body Mass Index (BMI) or weight standards prescribed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
BMI or Body Mass Index indicates `weight in proportion to height' and reveals whether a person is underweight, overweight and obese, or weighs appropriately for his or her height. As per guidelines of DGCA, the BMI of 18-25 is normal for a male cabin crew member while for a female it should be 18-22.
Air India declare cabin crew as `temporary unfit' when they fail to reduce weight according to DGCA guidelines and, if the weight issues persist for more than 18 months, the crew would merit `permanent unfitness'. In that case, such crew members are assigned ground jobs that pays less than flying duty.
The reasons for grounding are because they may find it difficult to perform emergency duty if they are overweight. The problem is more with women since they are unable to control BMI after pregnancy and some of them volunteer for ground duties.


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Wakeup call for Society – girls as young as six are worried about their bodies

Researchers from Leeds Beckett University has carried out a study on the growing up girls and had asked 301 under-nines questions regarding their attitude to food and how happy they were with their bodies.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 7 May 2015.

It is shocking to learn that girls as young as six are going on diets and, even though they have just started primary school, the children are already unhappy with their bodies and are trying to lose weight.
Eating disorders and the way these girls worry about their weight when they should enjoy the most carefree part of their lives is a matter of concern.
These raises questions about the attitude of schools towards obesity and anorexia. The child measurement program is one such. It involves children being weighed and measured in school according to their BMI. This has been criticized by parents of children as young as four who have received letters telling them their child must go on a diet.

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Child obesity rates for British children under 10 leveling off

#BMI #obesity #type2diabetes #heartdisease A study carried out by researchers of the King's College London has concluded that, while obesity in children under-10s is gradually stabilizing, the same connote said of children in the age group of 11 to 15 as reported in bbc.com dated 30 January 2015.
The rise in childhood obesity was a matter of concern – it had left one in three children overweight. That is showing signs of leveling off for the children under 10s. During the period 1994 to 2003, there was a steady rise in the proportion of overweight children in England but, in the last decade, it has remained at about 30%.
The Public Health England has said that there was no room for complacency because, in the opinion of experts, overweight is responsible for a wide range of health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and, even, infertility. And - the number of obese people in the UK has increased three times in the past 25 years.
The study was conducted by considering weight, height and body mass index (BMI) measurements for more than 370,000 children from 1994 to 2013 and, this data was analyzed. Children who are obese have to face problems like bullying. Such children also suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease as they grow up.