Fitterfly, a health-tech start-up working in the field of digital health and therapeutics, released a study revealing the prevalence of pre-diabetes risks in Corporate India. The study analyzed data of around 2020 (1384 males, 636 females) participants from leading corporates.
About 72.9% of the participants had a BMI of over 23 kg/m2 which puts them in the obese or overweight category. These people have 1.9x higher risk of pre-diabetes than those with a BMI lower than 23kg/m2. Mid to senior management employees (age 40 years and above) are at a significantly 1.4-fold higher risk of prediabetes than people with age less than 40 years. Overall, 272 participants were found to be at high-risk, 1296 at medium-risk, and the remaining 452 at low-risk of diabetes.
Fitterfly conducted awareness webinars and online prediabetes risk calculators for the employees of companies over a period of 12 months, spanning from August 14, 2021 to August 14, 2022. The timeframe was strategically chosen 90 days ahead of Diabetes Day (November 14) as scientifically it takes 90 days to mend the lifestyle to reverse Prediabetes and prevent progression to diabetes.
The study also found significant prevalence of other risk factors for diabetes/pre-diabetes among corporate employees. For instance, 58.3% people had a family history of diabetes which makes them highly vulnerable to the disease. 46.9 % of participants performed physical activity below the recommended level of 150 mins per week. Females (50.1%) lagged behind their male counterparts (45.4%) in performing the physical activities. A combination of risk factors is hazardous was also pointed out by the study since 31.6 % of total participants who had BMI higher than 23 Kg/m2 and age greater than 40 years were at the highest risk for prediabetes.
The implications of these findings are that the people with pre-diabetes have a high likelihood of becoming affected with diabetes within the next five years if the risk factors are not understood and taken care of immediately. When we factor in associated problems such as obesity, weakening of immunity and mobility, vision and other challenges, it becomes a major economic cost in the form of lost productivity. Further, the employer organizations also need to spend additionally on medical reimbursements etc.
These are humongous direct costs apart from the other intangible costs such as poor quality of life, and discomfort for the individuals, and loss of employee motivation and engagement for the companies. The study underscores all the challenges, and also serves as a great awareness platform to highlight the importance of managing diabetes through preventive care approach at the pre-diabetes stage.
Speaking about the one-of-its kind study, Dr Arbinder Singal, Co-Founder and CEO, Fitterfly, said, "The changing workspaces and style of working in recent years is causing a lot of challenges for employees irrespective of their location. The need of the hour is to quickly identify these risks, and raise awareness about the perils of diabetes. Proper management of diabetes can also bring down lipid profile and blood pressure leading to lowering of risk of heart diseases. This can be achieved by implementing outcome-based healthcare plans that help the workforce remain fit and disease free, instead of just providing treatment cover for those who fall sick. Such a preventive approach is not only sustainable, but will also ensure greater and consistent performance by the employees, reducing the medical breaks, drop in output, less expenditure on healthcare, and an overall positive work experience for all.
The pandemic forced people to remain indoors - reducing activity and increasing consumption of junk foods - leading to a lot of stress and weight gain in the process. In fact, as witnessed in 2021, many employees resigned due to overwhelming stress and workload. The ' Great Resignation' phenomenon saw more women leave the workforce as also a rise in absenteeism due to illnesses and poor output. The Fitterfly study reveals how all these factors led to greater incidence of problems like weight gain, diabetes distress, sleep deprivation.
Fitterfly's suite of diabetes and weight loss digital therapeutic programs, designed by top doctors and nutritionists, have brought together a multi-disciplinary team of nutritionists, psychologists, physiotherapists to achieve better outcomes for the patient.
About Fitterfly
Founded in 2016 by Dr Arbinder Singal and Shailesh Gupta, Fitterfly is led by a doctor who understands health and technology. The company has over 250 employees and is headquartered in Mumbai. The Fitterfly management team comprises senior doctors, nutritionists, fitness experts, psychologists, management experts and technologists working together with the sole aim of preventing, reversing and managing metabolic health conditions such as prediabetes, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart disease thereby increasing quality of life and health for people. Fitterfly has so far raised a total of $16.6 million from marquee investors. The last funding round of 12 Mn USD was led by Amazon with participation from existing investors - Fireside Ventures, 9 Unicorns and venture catalysts.
For press inquiries, please contact:
Kareena Yadav
9289038137
Kareena@talkingpointcommunications.com
Himani Sapkota
8800361247
himani@talkingpointcommunications.com
