More than 50 per cent of chronic kidney disease patients in India are obese, show preliminary results of a large pan-India study.

The study led by New Delhi-based research facility George Institute for Global Health highlights the association between prevalence of obesity and development and progression of chronic kidney disease.

"The data confirms the fact that there is high prevalence of obesity in patients with chronic kidney disease. Of particular concern is the high prevalence of abdominal obesity among women," Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director of the George Institute for Global Health, said in a statement.

The study funded by the Union government's Department of Biotechnology has been enrolling patients in nine hospitals across the country.

The preliminary analysis of data of 1,500 patients with kidney disease recruited as part of the study showed the overall prevalence of obesity at 49 per cent, but the figure in women was a whopping 57 per cent. 

The data on abdominal obesity is even more alarming, with about 63 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men exhibiting waist circumference beyond the cut-offs accepted for the Asian population, the study said. 

"Obese people are twice as likely to develop kidney disease compared to those with normal weight. Obesity also increases the likelihood of progression of kidney disease and development of complications, such as cardiovascular disease," Jha added.

As per the data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, India is just behind the US and China in terms of the number of obese people. 

The US is number one with 13 per cent, while China and India account for 15 per cent with 46 million and 30 million obese people respectively.