Survey finds 30% Army personnel overweight

NEW DELHI: A study on the health of Indian Army personnel has thrown up worrying results. Four out of five personnel surveyed, including officers, were found suffering from pre-hypertension, about a third were overweight and two-thirds had low levels of good cholesterol (HDL), caused by lack of exercise.

The sample survey was conducted by the defence ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research on 767 'healthy' personnel including 130 officers. Their ages ranged from 18 to 50 years.

The study also found a majority of the personnel had bad eating habits. Most of them added salt or pickle to their food and used ghee/butter regularly.

Alarmingly, the prevalence of pre-hypertension in the group was higher than in the general population. While 40-60% of Indians show these symptoms, it was as high as 80% among the Armymen. Pre-hypertension is a risk factor for heart disease and is characterized by mildly high blood pressure - 120-139mm Hg systolic pressure and a diastolic pressure of 80-89.

Almost 67% were found to have low HDL cholesterol level - a sign of low physical activity. More embarrassingly, 30% had a body-mass ratio of over 23, putting them in the overweight category.