Recent studies have again highlighted the increasing issue of obesity in Pakistan. While their data remains less-authentic, studies have found that one in every four Pakistani people might be overweight. According to the news published in the Express Tribune, Pakistan is 9th most obese country. Pakistan ranked 9th out of 188 countries in terms of obesity, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study published in The Lancet medical journal Thursday that said no country has turned the tide of obesity since 1980. A staggering 671 million people now fall within the obese category, said the study – 78 million of them in the United States, which accounts for five percent of the world’s population, but more than a tenth of its grossly overweight people. Similar findings appeared in a previously reported national study by Debra Nanan of Aga Khan University, Karachi. The author found that women are more likely to be overweight than men. Article says that obesity increases with socioeconomic status and age and Women in their adulthood are more obese than their younger counterparts. Figures from the free article are pasted below: I want to emphasize similar trend of mobility or travel behavior in Pakistan, which i have examined previously in a study paper. It show that women are more likely to remain immobile, they make fewer trips than men. Ageing and socioeconomic status decreases mobility of women. So it seems a strong correlation between mobility, travel and obesity. Because majority of travel in Pakistan is done by walking, it seems that those who walk more are less likely to be overweight, at least for women. In cities, women are particularly becoming automobile reliant. It makes them more vulnerable to obesity and related health risk. Men, particularly in later ages, walk more and they are less likely to be mobile as well.
I have been working on a research paper on this topic of mobility across ageing and socioeconomic status in Pakistan. it is expected to be published in June this year. It will show how the travel changes across gender, geography and demographic factors in the country. |
AboutDiscussions on social, transportation and urban planning issues with a focus on Pakistan. Archives
April 2016
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List of Health Facilities in Pakistan with Geographic Coordinates as of 2012 added on 01 June 2013
- - - - List of schools in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and FATA Provinces as of September 2011 added on 01 June 2013 - - - - Pakistan Time Use Survey Dataset added. - - - - Pakistan's spatial datasets uploaded on April 20, 2013 - - - - Share your data with others on the link below; it will be owned by you and you can invite other collaborators to use it. visitor's mapCategories
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