Energy Intake, Physical Activity Level (PAL) and Energy Balance of Overweight Adults in Kochi, Kerala

At the other end of the malnutrition scale, overweight is one of today’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems. Paradoxically coexisting with undernutrition, an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity – “globesity” – is taking over many parts of the world. If immediate action is not taken, millions will suffer from an array of serious health disorders (WHO, 2013). Obesity is a complex condition, one with serious social and psychological dimensions, that affects virtually all age and socioeconomic groups and threatens to overwhelm both developed and developing countries. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the obesity epidemic is not restricted to industrialized societies; in developing countries, it is estimated that over 115 million people suffer from obesity-related problems. Since overweight in adults is a public health concern, the search for effective anti-obesity measures has grown in recent years. The effectiveness of multidisciplinary approaches that combine physical activity and dietary strategies has now been recognized. However, the interaction between physical activity and energy consumption has received little consideration, although it could be a key target for controlling daily energy balance. The objective of the study was to elicit information on the energy balance of adults in terms of energy intake as 24 hour recall and energy expenditure as physical activity level (PAL). Adults (18-60 years) from Kochi corporation area in Ernakulam district of Kerala was selected for the conduct of the present study. Overweight subjects were classified by the BMI cutoffs recommended by WHO (2004) in which a high BMI 25 and above (Overweight) was followed for sample selection. A total of 140 adults including male and female were selected as study sample.