India logged 31 million new diabetes patients in 2019-21: study

June 09, 2023 02:28 pm | Updated June 19, 2023 02:13 pm IST - NEW DELHI Thirty-one million Indians became diabetic between 2019-2021, according to a paper touted as “one of the first comprehensive studies covering all States of India” to assess the non-communicable diseases burden in the country. The study, titled ‘Metabolic non-communicable disease health report of India: the ICMR-INDIAB national cross-sectional study ’, found that prevalence of generalised obesity and abdominal obesity in India stood at 28.6 and 39.5%, respectively and it showed that 24% of Indians suffer from hypercholesterolemia — a condition in which fat collects in arteries and puts individuals at a greater risk of heart attack and strokes — while 15.3% of people have pre-diabetes. The study notes a national prevalence of 11.4% diabetes, 15.3% pre-diabetes, 35.5% hypertension, 28.6% generalised obesity, 39.5% abdominal obesity and 24% hypercholesterolemia in India. Urban vs rural Non-communicable diseases National prevalence Estimated number of people in India, in millions State with highest prevalence State with lowest prevalence Diabetes 11.4% 101.3 Goa Uttar Pradesh Pre-diabetes 15.3% 136.0 Sikkim Mizoram Hypertension 35.5% 315.5 Punjab Meghalaya Generalized Obesity 28.6% 254.2 Puducherry Jharkhand Abdominal Obesity 39.5% 351.1 Puducherry Jharkhand Hypercholesterolemia 24.0% 213.3 Kerala Jharkhand High LDL cholesterol 20.9% 185.7 Kerala Jharkhand Urban vs rural difference: Urban regions had higher rates of all metabolic NCDs than rural areas, with the exception of pre-diabetes. New National estimates for diabetes and other NCD’s: Our study estimates that in 2021, in India there are 101 million people with diabetes and 136 million people with prediabetes, 315 million people had high blood pressure, 254 million had generalized obesity, and 351 million had abdominal obesity.