Vijay Viswanathan, MD, M.V.Hospital for Diabetes (left), at a press conference in Chennai on Thursday. J.Nagarathinam, chief executive of the hospital is in the picture. Photo: S.R.Raghunathan
Urban lifestyles, wrong diet and sedentary habits are pushing up the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the city, according to a study.
The survey led by the Prof. M. Viswanathan Diabetes Research Centre of the M.V. Hospital for Diabetes has reported a 21.7 per cent prevalence of metabolic syndrome in apparently normal subjects in a sample size of 2,000 subjects.
The risk of prevalence escalated in overweight persons (where the syndrome prevalence was 45.4 per cent) and the obese (where the prevalence was 60 per cent).
“Rising obesity levels are a matter of serious concern and directly proportional to the risks of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” Vijay Viswanathan, managing director of the hospital, told a press conference.
He explained that the probability of the syndrome increased with the increase in the Body Mass Index (BMI). The condition of metabolic syndrome can be ascertained in people with any three of the five parameters —waist exceeding 90cm for men and 85 cm for women, systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mm Hg, fasting glucose level above 100 mg/dl, triglycerides more than 175 mg/dl or high density lipoprotein (good cholesterol) less than 40 mg/dl.
The DRC, which has completed obesity studies on school-goers, is now turning its attention to the segment of IT professionals under Phase III of its “Chennai Slim and Fit” health awareness programme.
Over two years, the outreach would follow up a sample of about 10,000 (half would serve as a control group) IT workers in the OMR cluster.
A team comprising a doctor, educator, dietician and psychologist would carry out the programme to evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle intervention for the primary prevention of metabolic syndrome, related diseases and risk factors.
The hospital on Thursday also launched the MV Centre for Diabetes at Perungudi to drive Phase III of the programme.
The new centre equipped with metabolic syndrome screening, ECG and podiatry care will also provide prevention check-ups at subsidised fees, Dr. Viswanathan said. J. Nagarathinam, chief executive of the hospital, participated.
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