title: Overweight and obesity in India: policy issues from an exploratory multi-level analysis.
abstract: This article analyses a nationally representative household dataset-the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) conducted in 2005 to 2006-to examine factors influencing the prevalence of overweight/obesity in India. The dataset was disaggregated into four sub-population groups-urban and rural females and males-and multi-level logit regression models were used to estimate the impact of particular covariates on the likelihood of overweight/obesity. The multi-level modelling approach aimed to identify individual and macro-level contextual factors influencing this health outcome. In contrast to most studies on low-income developing countries, the findings reveal that education for females beyond a particular level of educational attainment exhibits a negative relationship with the likelihood of overweight/obesity. This relationship was not observed for males. Muslim females and all Sikh sub-populations have a higher likelihood of overweight/obesity suggesting the importance of socio-cultural influences. The results also show that the relationship between wealth and the probability of overweight/obesity is stronger for males than females highlighting the differential impact of increasing socio-economic status on gender. Multi-level analysis reveals that states exerted an independent influence on the likelihood of overweight/obesity beyond individual-level covariates, reflecting the importance of spatially related contextual factors on overweight/obesity. While this study does not disentangle macro-level 'obesogenic' environmental factors from socio-cultural network influences, the results highlight the need to refrain from adopting a 'one size fits all' policy approach in addressing the overweight/obesity epidemic facing India. Instead, policy implementation requires a more nuanced and targeted approach to incorporate the growing recognition of socio-cultural and spatial contextual factors impacting on healthy behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; and Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Md Zakaria
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.affiliation: UniSA Business School, University of South Australia, Way Lee Building, City West Campus, 37-44 North Terrace, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia ronald.donato@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Donato
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class
keywords: India; multi-level; overweight-obesity; policy issues