India is facing a major crisis of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the majority of which are caused by obesity, hypertension, overweight and metabolic disorders. There is a rise in cardiovascular diseases majorly due to obesity and hypertension. Recently there has been a dramatic rise in the frequency of cardiac arrest in the Indian population particularly among adolescents. So it is very important to educate the youth of today on how important it is to lead a healthy life and prevent the occurrence of such life-threatening medical conditions.
Keeping this mission in mind, India Health Link (IHL) in collaboration with HEAL Foundation recently conducted the ‘Indian Hearts Lacking Care’ (IHL Care) study on 1461 young people from four Indian metropolises of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. Of the total participants 23% were females and 77% were males. Participants’ sample diagnostic test results were acquired from Health ATMs or Digital Kiosks in these four cities. A random sample strategy was used in data collection and respondent gender, age, demographics, BMI class, BP class and SPO2 levels were among the test criteria.
The study has clearly brought out there is a strong correlation between BMI scores and BP risk wherein more the BMI scores, higher the risk of BP. An overweight or obese BMI increases BP risk by 41%. High BP is observed in Delhi (23%) and Mumbai (15%). The high BP is majorly seen in men with upto 30% in Delhi and almost similar in Mumbai. 30% of men in Delhi and women in Mumbai are more prone to high BP while 50% of men in Bangalore and 25% of women in Mumbai are prone to BP risk. It is also seen that BP risk as well as high BP is more commonly found in men than in women. Majority of obese or overweight people have high BP (30%) or have BP risk (nearly 53%). Youth in the age group of 26-40 years in Delhi are at high risk of cardiovascular diseases due to twin trouble of obesity and hypertension.
Sedentary lifestyles and working habits have taken a toll on youth, exposing them to an increased risk of having cardiovascular issues. So the urgent need is to move from heart illness to heart wellness which can be facilitated by preventive and predictive cardiology. Regular preventive screening must be done for the youth through technology-driven care to bring about wellness among them. Also the importance of healthy, nutritional and wholesome diet needs to be talked about and awareness on this aspect needs to reach youth both residing in rural and urban India.