A Study on the Role of Asbāb Sitta Ḍarūriyya in the Management of Siman Mufriṭ (Obesity)

Lifestyle-related illnesses are increasingly recognized as significant public healthconcerns. These conditions often develop from routine habits such as unhealthyeating, insufficient physical activity, persistent stress, and irregular daily patterns.With rapid urbanization and shifts in modern living, such disorders have becomemore widespread. As a result, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease nowaffect a large proportion of the population and place a growing burden on healthcaresystems. Among these problems, obesity has become one of the most common andworrying conditions. Its numbers continue to grow in almost every country, adding toillness, early deaths, and the overall burden on health services. Across the world,obesity has increased sharply in the last few decades. By 2022, about 16% of adultswere obese, and more than one billion people were living with obesity. If overweightindividuals are included, the number reaches nearly three billion. (1) India is alsofacing a similar situation. Recent reports show that about one in four adults aged 15–49 years is overweight or obese. Among them, around 6.4% of women and 4.0% ofmen fall into the obese category. (2)Obesity is now one of the most common health problems worldwide, and itsfrequency is increasing rapidly. It is a long-term condition in which excess body fataccumulates to a level that harms overall health. Between 1990 and 2021, the globaldeath rate linked to obesity remained fairly stable at around 40 deaths per 100,000people. However, in India, the situation has gradually worsened, with the death raterising from about 10 per 100,000 in 1990 to nearly 20 per 100,000 in 2021. (3) Thistrend shows that obesity-related deaths are becoming a growing public health concernin India and require urgent attention. Obesity affects populations in almost everycountry. In 2024, it was associated with nearly 3.7 million deaths worldwide. Ifeffective measures are not taken, the number of people living with obesity is expectedto double by 2030.(4) It also accounts for about 2.3% of total disability-adjusted lifeyears (DALYs), which is roughly 35.8 million DALYs, reflecting a significant burdenon global health systems. (5)