Obesity among Sri Lankan population on the increase: Medical specialist

By Ajith Siriwardana   

The overweight and obesity among male and female population has increased when compared to 2015 where 15 percent of the females and 6.3 percent of the male population were reported with obesity in Sri Lanka medical specialist said yesterday.   

Consultant Community Physician Shanthi Gunawardana told a news conference at the Health Promotion Bureau that obesity and overweight among female population has increased to 43 percent in 2021 whereas it was 34 percent in 2015.   

She said according to research conducted in 2015 on non-communicable diseases, obesity and overweight among male population has increased to 30 percent in 2021 in comparison to 24.5 percent in 2015.  

Dr.Gunawardana said overweight and obesity were decided based on the Body Mass Index (BMI) and that according to statistics of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the BMI of a healthy person should be between 18.5 and 24.9. “BMI over 30 is considered obesity and BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight,’ she said.   

She said people in Asian countries should maintain BMI at 23 and make sure that it is not exceeded 23.   

Dr.Gunawardana said food pattern is directly leads to obesity and overweight and added that various medical conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes, lung diseases and certain types of cancers will be caused due to obesity.