Abstract 187: Awareness, perception and barriers to obesity management: Results from Action India study

Objective and Background: Nearly 60 million Indians are estimated to be living with obesity by 2030. However, obesity is not well recognized as a chronic disease and remains largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. The ACTION APAC study identified the perceptions and attitudes to effective obesity care in people with obesity (PwO) and health care professionals (HCPs) in 9 APAC countries. Here we report the findings from India. Methods: This cross-sectional, non-interventional study collected data via an online survey between 14 April 2022 and 23 May 2022. PwO aged ≥18 years and HCPs with ≥2 years in practice, seen ≥100 patients (with ≥10 PwO) in the past month were eligible. Results: In India, a total of 2000 PwO and 300 HCPs completed the survey. PwO were 37 years old, 49% were females and most were from obesity class I (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2, 32%) and II ((BMI 30-34.9 kg/m2, 30%). Most HCPs were males (73%) and had a mean of 10 years of practice. The majority of PwO (72%) and HCPs (83%) agreed that obesity is a chronic disease and 56% of PwO assumed self-responsibility for weight loss (WL). Fewer than half of PwO (47%) reported discussing weight with their HCPs in the past 5 years while 68% of HCPs reported discussing weight with their PwO. HCPs cited PwO's lack of motivation (55%) and interest (47%) in losing weight as the top reasons for not discussing weight. Half of PwO (51%) were motivated to lose weight and less than half (44%) reported knowing how to lose weight. Almost all HCPs (93%) said they were willing to support or empower their PwO to make healthy changes and were motivated (92%) to help PwO to lose weight. However, both preferred lifestyle changes over medication for WL. One-third of PwO believe they have overweight or normal weight as opposed to having obesity. They started struggling with weight at the mean age of 29 years and took a mean of 2 years in seeking help from HCPs. They made a mean of 4 WL attempts and 44% reported regaining weight after successfully losing it. PwO believed lack of exercise (62%) and unhealthy eating habits as top barriers for WL. Just over half of HCPs (56%) recorded obesity diagnosis for most or all the time and informed the same to 76% of their PwO. Discussion and Conclusions: There were misperceptions about obesity among PwO and HCPs in India. Perceiving WL as PwO's responsibility might have led to less interactions and delayed interventions. Preference to lifestyle changes, that alone may not be enough to achieve desired WL in the long run, indicates lack of disease understanding and knowledge about treatment options. These findings highlight a need for increased awareness about the disease. Funding: Novo Nordisk A/S.