India’s Global Rank in Diabetes and Obesity
Largest Diabetes Population
India now ranks #1 globally in diabetes. It accounts for about one in four adults with diabetes worldwide (Why Lancet study on diabetes is a red flag: A quarter of diabetics globally are Indians | Health and Wellness News - The Indian Express). (In 2022, an estimated 212 million Indians had diabetes out of 828 million global cases (Why Lancet study on diabetes is a red flag: A quarter of diabetics globally are Indians | Health and Wellness News - The Indian Express).)
Rapid Growth
The number of diabetics in India has surged over the past decade. For instance, 2011 saw ~61 million cases, 2016 ~65 million, 2021 ~74 million, and 2022 estimates shoot up to over 200 million (Diabetes in India - Wikipedia) (Worldwide trends in diabetes prevalence and treatment from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 1108 population-representative studies with 141 million participants - The Lancet). This jump reflects improved detection of previously undiagnosed cases as well as rising incidence.
Obesity Burden (Global Rank)
India has the third largest number of obese individuals in the world (after the USA and China) according to WHO estimates (Abdominal obesity in India: analysis of the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–2021) data - The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia). While obesity prevalence (by percentage) in India is lower than in many Western nations, the absolute number of obese people is enormous due to India’s population size (Abdominal obesity in India: analysis of the National Family
Rising Obesity Prevalence in India (10-Year Trend)
Doubling of Overweight/Obesity: Overweight and obesity rates in India have roughly doubled in the last 10–15 years. Among women (age 15–49), prevalence rose from about 10.6% (1998) to 24% (2015), and a similar jump occurred in men (from ~9.3% in 2005 to 22.9% in 2015) ( International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases ).
Current Levels: Recent national surveys indicate that roughly one-quarter to one-third of Indian adults are now overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 25). For example, by 2020 the overall prevalence of overweight/obesity in women reached 24% (with urban areas as high as 33%) ( International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases ), continuing an upward trend from ~21% just 5 years earlier. Nearly all states saw increases in obesity between 2015 and 2020 ( International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases ) ( International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases ).
Urban-Rural Gap: Obesity is more common in urban populations, but rural India is rapidly catching up. Urban lifestyles and higher incomes have long driven obesity, but rising obesity in rural areas (e.g. rural women: 8.6% in 2006 to 19.7% in 2020) is contributing significantly to the nationwide increase ( International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases ).
Obesity and Diabetes Risk in India
“Diabesity” Link: Excess weight is a major driver of type-2 diabetes. It’s estimated that ~90% of type-2 diabetes cases are attributable in part to excess weight or obesity ( Assessment of Obesity and Associated Risk Factors of Diabesity in an Urban Population in Central India - PMC ).
Higher Risk for the Obese: An obese adult has a dramatically higher chance of developing diabetes. Obese individuals are about 7 times more likely to develop type-2 diabetes compared to those at a healthy weight (even overweight people have around 3-fold higher risk) ( Assessment of Obesity and Associated Risk Factors of Diabesity in an Urban Population in Central India - PMC ). In other words, obesity sharply multiplies diabetes risk
Lifetime Risk: A recent study in urban India found that young obese adults face an alarming lifetime risk of diabetes. For a 20-year-old obese Indian, the lifetime risk of developing diabetes is around 85–87% (Lifetime risk of diabetes in metropolitan cities in India | Diabetologia ). This means the vast majority of obese young adults may eventually become diabetic if current trends continue. (By contrast, the lifetime risk in normal-weight individuals is much lower, roughly 55–65% in that study (Lifetime risk of diabetes in metropolitan cities in India | Diabetologia
More than two-fifths (44%) of women and 46 percent of men have a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) that puts them at a substantially increased risk of metabolic complications.
