Indians now live longer, but in poor health in old age:
Study
First the good news: Indians are living much longer than
they did 40 years ago.
The life expectancy (LE) at birth of an average Indian
male has gone up by 15 years between 1970 and 2010, while that of an Indian
woman by 18 years.
An average Indian man can expect to live for as long as
63 years, while an Indian woman can live 4.5 years longer than her male
counterpart.
However, the number of years they stay healthy is much
lesser.
An Indian male can claim to be in good health till he
reaches the age of 54.6 years, and is expected to spend the last nine years of
his life suffering from various ailments.
On the other hand, when it comes to an average Indian
woman, though she is expected to live till 67.5 years, she will remain healthy
till 57.1 years - spending over a decade, or 10.4 years in poor health.
The Global Burden of Disease Study, 2010 — the largest
ever study to describe the global distribution and causes of a wide array of
major diseases, injuries and health risk factors — has found that even though
there is reason to cheer over an Indian's increasing lifespan, it is still much
shorter than an average Chinese or an American.
An average Chinese male is living 10 years longer than an
Indian male, while a Chinese woman is living 11.5 years longer than her Indian
counterpart. An average American lives nearly 13 years longer than an Indian.
Published in the most prestigious British medical
journal, The Lancet, the study was conducted over five years by 486 authors
from over 300 institutes in 50 countries, including India.
A common practice in Indian households - mainly in rural
settings of burning wood, coal and animal dung as fuel in chulhas — has proved
to be the greatest enemy for Indians.
While globally, high blood pressure was the single biggest
causative agent of disease, it was indoor air pollution (IAP) for Indians.
The WHO had earlier said that burning solid fuels to
prepare their meals emit carbon monoxide, benzene and formaldehyde which can
result in pneumonia, asthma, blindness, lung cancer, tuberculosis and low birth
weight.
WHO estimates that pollution levels in rural Indian
kitchens are 30 times higher than recommended levels and six times higher than
air pollution levels found in the national Capital?
The other threats to normal Indians include diet low in
fruits, high blood glucose levels, alcohol use, iron deficiency, sub optimal
breast feeding, low physical activity and occupational injuries.
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