India houses nearly double the number of diabetics than previously estimated, according to the new findings of a 12-year study on the prevalence of metabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, in the country.
The Indian Council of Medical Research–India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study, which assessed a representative sample of individuals aged 20 years and older drawn from urban and rural areas of 31 states and UTs, found prevalence of diabetes among 11.4 per cent population, which comes to 101 million.
This is 1.68 times higher than the previously estimated 60 million diabetics in India and a previously known 7.84 per cent national prevalence rate of diabetes.
The new study published in The Lancet puts the prevalence of pre-diabetes at 15.3 per cent in India, which is 136 million; hypertension at 35.5 per cent; general obesity at 39.5 per cent and dyslipidemia (lipid imbalance which can cause heart diseases) at 81.2 per cent. One in every three Indians has hypertension and two in five are obese.
