Indian government study finds 11% of citizens are diabetic

 

A new government study published Friday highlighted that some 11% of Indians are suffering from diabetes, with experts voicing their concerns about long-term organ complications in the population, reported Reuters.

The study also highlighted that hypertension and obesity are much more common among Indians than previously documented.

The study — conducted on more than 113,000 people — also revealed that around 15% of Indians were pre-diabetic and around 35% have hypertension.

It was conducted between October 2008 and December 2020 across 31 Indian states and territories.

R S Dhaliwal, head of the non-communicable diseases division at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said in a statement: "It is quite evident from the study results that India has a substantial population at risk of cardiovascular disease and other long-term organ complications."

According to ICMR estimates, India — recently termed the world's most populous country surpassing China — has 101 million people with diabetes.

That is 36% more than a 2021 estimate of 74.2 million people by the International Diabetes Federation.

The Indian government said that unhealthy diets, lack of physical activity as well as the harmful use of alcohol and tobacco are factors behind the rise in cases of diabetes.

India's health secretary underlined last month that the "lifestyle of a large section of the population has become more sedentary than before" and that the burden of metabolic diseases was growing.

The US National Clinical Care Commission has also estimated that about 11% of the US population has diabetes.