India’s Health Improves but Obesity and Diabetes Are Rising

pradeep
Jul 29
2 min read

India has recorded significant progress in maternal care, child immunisation and nutrition, but lifestyle-related conditions such as obesity and diabetes are increasing, according to the latest National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6).

Healthcare infographic with mother, baby, doctor, phone app, labs and healthy food; NFHS-6: India’s health improves, obesity rises

The findings, covering 2023–24, were shared in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav.

Maternal Healthcare Shows Improvement

Institutional deliveries increased from 88.6% in NFHS-5 to 90.6% in NFHS-6.

The survey also found that 95.9% of pregnant women received antenatal care, while the percentage of mothers completing at least four antenatal check-ups rose from 58.5% to 65.2%.

Births attended by skilled healthcare personnel increased from 89.4% to 91.3%.

Child Immunisation Coverage Rises

Full immunisation among children aged 12 to 23 months improved from 83.8% to 87.1%.

Second-dose measles vaccine coverage rose from 58.6% to 71.8%, while rotavirus vaccine coverage increased sharply from 36.4% to 85.4%.

Child Malnutrition Declines

The prevalence of stunting among children under five fell from 35.5% to 29.3%.

Severe wasting also declined, dropping from 7.7% to 5.2%, indicating progress in child nutrition and early-life healthcare.

Family Planning Indicators Improve

India’s contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 66.7% to 69.1%, while the unmet need for family planning declined from 9.4% to 8.5%.

The country’s Total Fertility Rate remained stable at 2.0, below the replacement level of 2.1.

Obesity and Diabetes Become Growing Concerns

Despite progress in maternal and child health, NFHS-6 highlighted a rise in lifestyle-related diseases.

The percentage of overweight or obese adults reached 30.7% among women and 27.3% among men aged 15 to 49.

High blood sugar or diabetes prevalence increased from 13.5% to 17.8% among women and from 15.6% to 20.9% among men aged above 15. Hypertension, however, showed a modest decline among both groups.