Health ministry along with the Diabetics Foundation of India, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Nutrition and 20 other eminent organizations have released the first consensus Indian guidelines for the prevention and management including drug and surgical treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

The guidelines, to be incorporated in the national diabetics and cardiovascular control programmes, were released recently at a conference. The conference, attended by scientists from related fields and experts from ICMR and health ministry set diagnostic cut-offs for body mass index in detail for Indians, as against the existing standards. It revised the norms for treatments and drugs, besides setting guidelines for bariatric surgery. Dynamic yoga should be encouraged and children should undertake at least 60 min of outdoor physical activity. Screen time (TV/Computers) should be less than 2 hrs a day, it said.

Dr. P K Chowbey, the convener of the summit and also the chairman of Minimal Access & Bariatric Surgery Centre, Sir Gangaram Hospital, said "the clinical presentation of obesity, its associated metabolic dysfunctions and their problems in Indians is unique and different from Western population. Consequently, there was an urgent need to develop and formulate guidelines and protocols application to the Indian scenario."

Dr. Anoop Mishra, a co-convener of the summit and the director and head of Dept. of Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Hospitals said, ?Indians have different composition of the body, and that puts them in high risk for diabetes and hypertension. We need to intervene early with diet, exercise and drug therapy. For this, need to lower international guidelines for obesity and abdominal obesity was almost urgent, but was pending for a long time. The revised guidelines, as per consensus reached in this unique summit, would benefit additional 15-20 per cent (6-8 crores) of the Indian population. It is remarkable that such large mass of people would benefit with simple changes in guidelines, and that in turn, would lead to substantial prevention of diabetes and heart disease."

It is estimated that the absolute mortality due to CHD (Chronic Heart Diseases) in India shall increase to 2.03 million/year in 2010 and by the year 2020, it will reach 2.58 million. The figure was 1.59 million/year in the year 2000. Also, the current load of diabetes in India (41 million) is expected to increase by 170 per cent in the next 20 years. As on today, India has the largest diabetes population in the world.