At least 19 percent of the urban poor, including 22.2 percent of women and 15.3 percent of men aged between 18 and 64 years, suffer from diabetes, over double the national rate of nine percent, reveals a new collaborative study.

“Childhood undernutrition could be attributed to such a high rate,” said one of the authors, Assistant Prof Khalequzzaman of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

Conducted between 2014 and 2016, this study changes the perception that only the rich are affected by non-communicable diseases, that is those not caused by infectious agents, he said.

The Nagoya University of Japan, BSMMU, National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute, and Environment and Population Research Centre conducted the “NCD risk factor survey in Urban Poor Population of Bangladesh”.

Over 21,000 people of Bauniabadh, an urban low-income community in the capital's Mirpur, came under the epidemiological study, representing the country's underserved urban poor, said Dr Khalequzzaman.

The study, disseminated at a symposium at the BSMMU auditorium yesterday, revealed that 39.3 percent of the women and 19.4 percent of the men were overweight or obese.

Moreover, 20.6 percent of the women and 18.6 percent of the men suffered from hypertension.

The amount of HDL cholesterol, which unclogs arteries and protects the heart, was low, that is less than 40mg/dL, in 73.3 percent of men and 56 percent of women.

LDL cholesterol, which clogs arteries and increases risks of heart diseases, was found to be high, that is over 130 gm/dL, in 11.6 percent of men and 12.8 percent of women.

The researchers said the findings reveal that the community was in quite a high risk of developing non-communicable diseases and that it could be linked to certain behaviours and food habits. For example, 60 percent of the men and 22 percent of the women are tobacco users, said another author, Prof Sohel Reza Chowdhury of the heart foundation.

Besides, 92 percent of the participants consume only one serving of fruits and vegetables a day whereas only 2 percent had over five servings as recommended by World Health Organization, he said. 

Around 80 percent of the people added table salt to their meals, a habit raising the risk of hypertension, he said.

“I take some salt when I eat rice...some people do not find rice tasty if they do not take it with any salt,” said a female participant in the qualitative part of the study presented by Prof Akiko Matsuyama of Nagasaki University.

She quoted many of the respondents as saying that presence of artificial preservatives prompted them to refrain from eating fruits or to eat less. They, however, said they ate oily street food and in restaurants for often being unable to cook at home.

Even those who are financially insolvent mentioned that they often cannot buy good food and face stress due to financial constraints, said Prof Akiko.

National Heart Foundation President Prof Brig (retd) Abdul Malik said non-communicable diseases have become the top cause of the burden brunt from diseases and deaths in developing countries like Bangladesh.

“We need prevention programmes as well as modern treatment facilities to combat the threat,” he said.