As weight problems rates increase in India, medical professionals caution that many individuals might have a’heart age ‘substantially older than their real age, raising the threat of heart disease much earlier than anticipated.
The issue is available in the wake of findings from the National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), which revealed a sharp boost in weight problems amongst Indian grownups.
The study discovered that 30.7 percent of ladies aged 15-49 years were obese or overweight in 2023-24, up from 24 percent in NFHS-5 (2019-21), while the percentage amongst males increased from 22.9 percent to 27.3 percent.
Professionals stated the pattern, combined with increasing diabetes and high blood pressure, might equate into a higher concern of heart problem.
Dr Nitish Naik, Professor of Cardiology at AIIMS, Delhi, stated heart age is significantly being utilized to describe cardiovascular threat in such a way individuals can quickly comprehend.
Heart age vs sequential age
Talking to PTIDr Naik stated, “Cardiac age is not necessarily the same as a person’s chronological age. It is an assessment of how healthy or unhealthy the cardiovascular system is based on various risk factors.”
A 35-year-old with weight problems, diabetes, hypertension and an inactive way of life might well have a cardiovascular danger profile comparable to that of a much older individual, he stated.
According to the World Health Organization, obese and weight problems are amongst the leading threat aspects for non-communicable illness, consisting of heart problem and stroke, which stay prominent causes of death internationally.
Dr Rahul Chandola, Chairman of the Institute of Heart, Lungs Diseases Research Centre and creator of an AI-based health care innovation platform iLive Connect, stated weight problems is a significant factor of cardiovascular health and stays a significant issue worldwide, consisting of India.
He stated the inactive way of life, sitting for long hours in workplaces, intake of junk foods, and tension add to weight problems.
Discussing heart age, Dr Chandola, a cardiovascular cosmetic surgeon, stated it is a procedure of the biological health of the heart and capillary, showing the organ’s physiological condition instead of the variety of years an individual has actually lived.
He stated an individual aged 70 or 80 might have a much more youthful heart if the general cardiovascular condition is excellent. A more youthful individual can have an older heart age if several threat aspects are present.
Heart age is figured out by aspects such as high blood pressure, heart rate, ECG findings, heart-rate irregularity, blood sugar level control, workout levels and total cardiovascular physical fitness, he included.
The advances in innovation and AI are making it possible to specifically approximate heart age, he stated, including that “Platforms such as iLive can analyse multiple physiological parameters and estimate one’s cardiac age.”
The weight problems crisis
According to Dr Chandola, the platform, including several variables, consisting of information gathered through sensing units and a wristband, tracks physiological criteria in genuine time. This details is evaluated utilizing AI to produce an individual’s heart age.
Dr Naik stated lots of Indians stay uninformed that cardiovascular damage frequently starts years before signs appear.
“People frequently focus only on body weight, but metabolic health is equally important. Obesity can silently damage blood vessels, increase insulin resistance and raise blood pressure. By the time symptoms develop, significant cardiovascular damage may already have occurred,” he stated.
Physicians state weight problems speeds up heart ageing through numerous biological systems.
Dr H S Isser, Head of Department of Cardiology at VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, stated that excess body fat, especially around the abdominal area, activates persistent swelling, increases high blood pressure, aggravates cholesterol levels and promotes insulin resistance, all of which damage capillary and require the heart to work more difficult.
He stated weight problems hardly ever happens in seclusion.
“Obesity is closely linked with a cluster of metabolic disorders, including diabetes, hypertension and abnormal lipid levels. Together, these conditions significantly increase the risk of coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke. The rise in obesity reflected in NFHS-6 is therefore a serious public-health concern,” he stated.
Dr Isser stated stomach weight problems is especially harmful since it surrounds important organs and drives metabolic dysfunction.
“Many people focus only on body weight, but waist circumference and visceral fat are equally important. A person may not appear significantly overweight yet still be carrying excess abdominal fat that increases cardiovascular risk. This is one reason why Indians are seeing heart disease at relatively younger ages,” he elaborated.
Dr Anil Gurtoo, Head of Dept of Medicine at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research stated, “While the Calendar displays one age, the heart may reveal another age. So, while we may be 40 years old by the calendar, our heart may have crossed 60 years.” This upsetting paradox of the young-old and the thin-fat is ending up being all too typical, as the quiet epidemic of visceral weight problems sweeps throughout South Asia, he stated.
“What makes this phenomenon unique is that, unlike the Western populations, obesity in the Indian population expresses very differently — by developing early-onset cardio-metabolic disease at lower body weights leading to early diabetes and heart attacks at ages as young as thirty,” Dr Gurtoo stated.
In general, the outside thin body profile typically conceals the inward deposits of thick visceral fat twisted around internal organs like liver, pancreas, and capillary.
Unlike the fat under the skin, this layer of fat around organs acts like a huge endocrine organ continuously producing signals of swelling and insulin resistance that gradually damage and solidify the capillary, heart and pancreas, resulting in early cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
“However, the good news is that this paradox is entirely preventable, even reversible through a combination of physical exercise, healthy eating, particularly avoidance of ultra-processed foods and carbonated drinks, and 7-8 hours of sleep.
“The motivating message is that heart age can be enhanced through weight control, routine exercise, a healthy diet plan, smoking cigarettes cessation, and prompt management of threat aspects. Avoiding weight problems today is a financial investment in a more youthful and much healthier heart tomorrow,” Dr Isser added.
Published on June 13, 2026
