Vadodara Scores Highest In Heart Health Index: Healthians Survey

The scores were arrived at by analysing the prevalence of healthy levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides amongst the population

A large-scale study by health-tech firm Healthians found that, residents of Vadodara, Gujarat, on average, have the healthiest hearts out of all Indian cities.

In the study, Vadodara scored 7.5 on a scale of 10 for heart health, beating second-placed Ludhiana by a wide margin. Ludhiana scored 6.9, and it was followed by Jalandhar at 6.8. Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Panipat, Patiala, Kanpur and Chandigarh completed the top 10.

The scores were arrived at by analysing the prevalence of healthy levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides amongst the population. However, the results of the study used anonymised data from blood tests by 2.66 million people aged 20 and above across 250 cities and towns in India in recent months. As many as 83 cities where a sample size of at least 1,000 was recorded were ranked based on the average scores of the population.

Amongst the metropolitan cities, Delhi scored 5.4, giving it a rank of 11. Kolkata followed at the 21st position with a score of 5.2. Chennai was 67th with a score of 4.6, while Mumbai ranked 76th with a score of 4.5. Hyderabad and Bengaluru were the lowest, with scores of 4.5 and 4.1.

Deepak Sahni, founder and CEO of Healthians said, "As is the case with any developing nation with changing lifestyle and consumption habits, India too is seeing high rates of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, smoking, etc, all factors associated with cardiac diseases. Currently, heart disease is the number one cause of mortality among Indians, and the fact that very few Indians get routinely screened for heart health has led to a silent epidemic and the healthcare sector as a whole needs to do something about it."