Obesity, NCDs high among street vendors, drivers: Survey

HYDERABAD: A survey of about 750 street vendors, pushcart vendors and autorickshaw drivers from Hyderabad found their health indicators to be poor. The survey found about 68 per cent of respondents overweight or obese, and 32 per cent had either hypertension or diabetes.

The survey was conducted by an organisation via screening camps to check the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD) like diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), obesity etc in the Old City at three screening camps at Hasanagar slum, Chintalmet and Tadbund crossroads, where there is high concentration of pushcart vendors and autos.

A team of doctors, dieticians, nurses and paramedics randomly screened 750-plus adults aged above 30 years.

About 28 per cent of the samples screened were found to be healthy, 36 per cent were found to be overweight with BMI (body mass index) above 25. About 20 per cent were found to have grade 1 obesity with BMI in the 28-30 range, seven per cent with grade 2 obesity with a BMI above 30 and five per cent with obesity grade 3 with BMI greater than 35.

Out the 68 per cent overweight and obese street vendors, more than half were found to have morbid and comorbid conditions and the rest were at significant risk of NCDs in the future.

About 32 per cent of respondents were found to have either hypertension or diabetes. Of these, 21 per cent of vendors had both diabetes and hypertension. About 25 per cent of the vendors presented with a condition called metabolic syndrome, in which blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipids are impaired.

A WHO-recommended template was used for risk evaluation, wherein body weight, height and waist circumference is measured and other parameters like family history of NCDs, level of physical activity and tobacco use are given a score.

No. of street vendors, pushcart vendors and auto rickshaw drivers surveyed: 750

Healthy respondents: 28%

Overweight respondents: 36%

Obese respondents: 32%

Respondents with either hypertension or diabetes: 32%