Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 26: In its continued efforts to create awareness about obesity, VLCC on the occasion of Anti-Obesity Day, unveiled a knowledge paper ‘India: The Rise of an Obese Country’.
Visceral or “Belly Fat” is fat stored within the abdominal cavity, around a number of important internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines, is considered a lot more harmful to health than subcutaneous fat as it affects the viscera, causing conditions such as diabetes mellitus, heart disease and is associated with abnormal lipid profiles and insulin resistance.
Given that it is “hidden”, visceral fat is difficult to measure using traditional methods and is therefore rampant in Indians as compared to their Western counterparts.
VLCC’s own study found that its clients had high visceral fat levels with an average of 14 instead of a high normal of 10, significantly increasing their risk to cardiovascular disease, non- alcoholic fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and certain cancers. Even a reduction of 5 per cent to 10 per cent of body weight can result in a reduction of 10 per cent to 30 per cent of abdominal fat.
Mamta Singh Sumbria, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh was the chief guest on the occasion.
Vandana Luthra, Founder, VLCC said that “As many as 30 per cent of people who come to us for weight loss are unaware of underlying medical conditions such as Hypertension, Hypothyroid, PCOS, Diabetes, Hyperinsulinemia, Arthritis, etc., which need immediate medical attention. This knowledge paper is in many ways, a summary of our 26 years of experience in the wellness industry where we have attempted to highlight several underlying health issues that plague Indians”.
Dr Soumik Kalita, Head Research, Technical Operations and Service Delivery, VLCC Health Care Limited said, “VLCC has long been advocating the use of body fat percentage to manage the weight of its clients and is one of the early adopters of considering measurement of visceral fat to understand the metabolic health of its clients”.
VLCC’s knowledge paper is based on the data of more than 1.5 lakh people who visited the VLCC Wellness Centres between 2012 and 2015, across India, a majority of whom are between 18 and 60 years of age.
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