Weight loss surgeries grow 100-fold as food-loving Indians take the easy route

• India witnessed a dramatic 100-fold jump in weight loss surgeries over the last 15 years.
  
• Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are the states with maximum number of weight loss surgeries.
  
• In 2019, the number of weight loss surgeries swelled to 20,242, from 200 in 2004.
  
• The approximate cost of surgery ranges from ₹400,000 to ₹1 million in India.

Weight gain and flabs are making Indians so conscious that they are taking an alternative route of weight loss surgeries — for quick and effective results.

The country witnessed a dramatic 100-fold jump in weight loss surgeries over the last 15 years. The national capital Delhi holds the record for maximum surgeries. This was followed by the Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

In fact, children as young as 15 are also undergoing surgeries to reduce weight.

According to the Obesity Surgery Society of India (OSSI), the country recorded roughly 200 surgeries, done to cut extra flab. However, the number swelled to 20,242 in 2019, TOI reported.

Bariatric surgery is a bypass surgery of the stomach, which can reduce appetite by stitching a piece of the stomach.

“Most people get weight-loss surgery done when they are fed up with restrictions in lifestyle and want to look better,” Dr Arun Prasad, President of OSSI told TOI. However, statistics show that diabetes and knee pain are the key reasons for performing weight loss surgeries.

According to a survey by global market research firm Ipsos, Indians prefer ‘eating well’ over restraint. Only a third of respondents said that being thin is more important than eating well.

The approximate cost of surgery ranges from ₹400,000 to ₹1 million in India.

The healthier way

Given that the surgical method wasn’t much popular back in 2003, India had merely eight surgeons specialising in weight loss treatments. Come 2019, there are nearly 450 weight loss surgeons in India.

Meanwhile, as many as 250,000 weight loss surgeries were performed in the US in 2018. Australia, China and other American countries also had higher number of surgeries, than India.

See also:
Indians love food so much that most of them just won’t go on a diet: Survey

If you’re dreaming of opening a restaurant, here are the most popular foreign cuisines likely to work in India