Obesity and its association with maternal and child health outcomes among women in India

Mahadev M. D. Bhise, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Globally, Obesity has reached epidemic portion, including developing country like India. It has one of the new emerging health problems, which increased risk of pregnancy complication and premature death due to serious chronic health condition. Using data from National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2005-06 is used to estimate obesity and its impact on maternal and child health outcomes; using multivariate logistic regression and cox proportional hazard model. The prevalence of obesity was 15.3% among women in India; rate of increase in the level of obesity has much higher than developed world. This study show that obesity was positively and statistically significantly associated with maternal and child health outcomes. Obese women were high risk of pregnancy complication such as caesarean, prolonged labor, swelling, vaginal bleeding, and have a high risk of fetal death and deliver macrocosmic infant. There is strong need to some national plan of action to address obesity.