Worsening air quality in Delhi cannot only cause respiratory disorders, but also make you obese and diabetic.

City’s top health experts said when particulate matter ( PM-2.52, PM-10) enters the body, it increases inflammatory markers associated to obesity and diabetics.

Physicians are of the opinion, that since most cases of obesity and diabetes are found in urban areas, it can be postulated that air pollution can make people obese and a diabetic also.

Medical officials are witnessing more cases of obesity especially among children and youth with inflammatory markers in their bodies, the cases of non-communicable diseases have increased in last couple of years. 

Dr Atul NC Perters, a Bariatric surgeon from Fortis C-DOC, Shalimar Bagh said that changing lifestyle, improper diet is one of the risk factor which is leading to health disorders these days. He said high-levels of air pollution may not only cause respiratory diseases, but it may also lead to obesity and diabetes.

Informing about the United States-based research which showed that air pollution can increase the risk for obesity and diabetes, Dr Vivek Bindal, Consultant Bariatric and laparoscopic Surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “When particulate matter enters the human body, it creates inflammatory markers such as Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, tumor necrosis factor alpha), C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin 6 (Il-6) which is related to insulin resistance and obesity.” Since the cases of bariatric with diabetic are more found in urban population, we can postulate that air pollution is linked to obesity and diabetes, added Dr Bindal.

The study published in the Journal of federation of the American Society of Experimental Biology in February this year. The research was done on rats that were exposed to the highly polluted air of Beijing. The polluted air caused metabolic dysfunction in rats, leading to obesity and the precursors of diabetes when compared to rats that had not been exposed to the air.

Dr Randeep Wadhawan, HOD in Bariatric and Gastrointestinal Surgery at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj said that the link between air pollution and obesity is indeed a new subject of concern. Already toxic air is causing more damage to the respiratory system, but its link with obesity is worrisome because obesity is linked to other health complications such as hypertension, heart diseases and type 2 diabetes.