India is grappling with a rapid expansion of its waistline, high blood pressure, and blood sugar—a very unhealthy trend, government data shows.
According to the latest National Family Health Survey-6, obesity
rates have surged alarmingly in just four years, with nearly one in three women and more than one in four men now classified as overweight or obese. The findings, released from NFHS-6 (2023-24) data covering all 182 districts surveyed across the nation, paint a stark picture of metabolic health deteriorating across urban and rural India alike. Among women, obesity prevalence jumped from 24 per cent in 2019-21 to 30.7 per cent in 2023-24—a rise of nearly 6 percentage points in less than five years. For men, the increase was almost as steep, climbing from 22.9 per cent to 27.3 per cent. The data reflects a striking urban-rural divide. In cities, 42.8 per cent of women are overweight or obese—almost one in two—compared to just 25.5 per cent in rural areas. The same pattern holds for men, where urban obesity reaches 36.3 per cent against 23 per cent in villages.
The definition of obesity used in this survey—a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or above—aligns with WHO guidelines for Asian populations, making the data internationally comparable. Yet what matters most is what these shifting numbers mean for India’s disease burden moving forward.
“We are in for a tsunami of non-communicable diseases,” said Dr Ambrish Mithal, group chairman, endocrinology and diabetology, Max Healthcare.
Mithal warned that the data shows a disturbing pattern showing increasing diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. “Unfortunately, the growth of diabetes and hypertension is going unchecked. Not only that, but it is also all driven by increasing body weight, the data shows. Particularly, visceral fat is fuelling the epidemic. We need to get our act together to curtail this increase; otherwise, we have a serious problem.”
Similarly, Dr Anoop Misra, chairman at Fortis C-Doc, told News18 that the latest NFHS-6 data reveals a complex, dual-burden health challenge for the nation. “The sharp rise in both obesity and high blood sugar levels—particularly in urban sectors—demands targeted public health interventions with at least ten years of concrete intent.”
Simultaneously, he added, “the persistent reality that nearly one in five adults in rural India still suffers from a below-normal BMI reminds us that our fight against undernutrition is far from over.”
Increase in hypertension & diabetes: Data
While obesity has climbed, so has the prevalence of the diseases it triggers. Blood sugar abnormalities are also rising sharply. Among women, those with dangerously high blood sugar levels (above 160 mg/dL) nearly doubled—from 6.3 per cent in NFHS-5 to 9.1 per cent in NFHS-6.
Even more concerning, when you include women with high blood sugar who are being treated with medication, the total climbs to 17.8 per cent in the latest survey, up from 13.5 per cent previously.
Men show the same trajectory. Those with very high blood sugar levels jumped from 7.1 per cent to 10.9 per cent, and including medicated cases, 20.9 per cent of men now have abnormal blood sugar—compared to 15.6 per cent four years ago.
Hypertension or high blood pressure tells a more complex story. While the raw prevalence of elevated blood pressure among women actually dipped—from 21.3 per cent with medication to 19.4 percent—this may reflect improved detection and treatment rather than declining disease.
Men’s hypertension numbers similarly decreased from 24 per cent to 22.1 per cent when including those on medication. The silver lining: treatment awareness appears to be improving. Yet the burden remains massive, with more than one in five Indians still carrying this silent killer.
According to Dr Sudhir Kumar, neurologist at Hyderabad-based Apollo Hospitals, the NFHS-6 data reflect a worrying but expected epidemiological transition in India. “While undernutrition still persists, especially in rural populations and among women, overweight, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are rising steadily across both urban and rural India. The sharp increase in overweight and obesity compared to NFHS-5 suggests that India is now facing a dual burden of malnutrition: undernutrition on one side and lifestyle-related metabolic diseases on the other.”
Equally concerning is the rise in high blood sugar levels, particularly among men, indicating a growing diabetes epidemic even in younger age groups, he said. “Although hypertension prevalence appears marginally lower than NFHS-5 in some categories, overall numbers remain very high, and awareness, treatment, and control rates are still suboptimal.”
Kumar pointed out that these trends are closely linked to unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, obesity, stress, poor sleep, and increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods. “Without aggressive preventive strategies, India may witness a substantial rise in stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, and dementia in the coming decades.”
Similarly, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, past president of the Indian Medical Association, Cochin, believes the trend is consistent with a sedentary lifestyle in smaller dwellings with limited scope for exercise and greater use of motorised transport. “Contemporary urban food habits with heavy reliance on packaged snacks, fried or high-calorie foods from restaurants, and sweetened beverages are likely contributors, though this segment of the survey does not address nutrition. The rise in body weight is directly reflected in the surge in diabetes, in which lack of exercise is an additional risk factor.”
