NFHS-4, NFHS-5 and NFHS-6: Comparison of Nutrition, Hypertension and Diabetes Indicators - India

Note on comparability: NFHS-4 measured adults age 15-49 years; NFHS-5 and NFHS-6 extended the age range to 15 years and above for hypertension and diabetes, and retained 15-49 for BMI/nutrition. NFHS-6 also provides urban/rural breakdowns. Direct comparisons should be made cautiously for hypertension and blood sugar due to this age-range change.

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status of Adults (Age 15-49 years)

TABLE 2: Blood Sugar Level among Adults (Diabetes Indicators)

Women (age 15-49 in NFHS-4; age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

Men (age 15-49/54 in NFHS-4; age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

TABLE 3: Hypertension among Adults

Women (age 15-49 in NFHS-4; age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

Men (age 15-54 in NFHS-4; age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

CONSOLIDATED SUMMARY TABLE

INTERPRETATION

1. Dual Burden of Malnutrition - Persisting and Widening

2. Escalating Diabetes Burden

3. Hypertension - A Possible Plateau in NFHS-6

• Improved awareness and treatment uptake
• Expansion of public health programs like PM-Jan Arogya Yojana
• Wider availability of anti-hypertensive medications at PHC level

4. Urban-Rural Divide

• Urban areas consistently show higher overweight/obesity, higher diabetes burden and higher hypertension than rural
• Rural areas show higher undernutrition (thinness)
• This gradient underscores the need for differentiated public health strategies - nutrition fortification and food security for rural populations, and NCD prevention/lifestyle interventions for urban populations

5. Gender Differences

• Men have consistently higher diabetes burden than women across all rounds
• Men have consistently higher hypertension burden than women
• Women bear a higher thinness burden than men in absolute terms
• The obesity gap between men and women is narrowing - women's overweight rate (30.7%) now exceeds men's (27.3%) in NFHS-6, a reversal from NFHS-4 (women 20.7%, men 18.6%)

6. Policy Implications

How the NFHS-4 "~" Figures Were Calculated

~8.6% - Women's Diabetic Burden (NFHS-4)

5.8% (141-160 mg/dl band) + 2.8% (>160 mg/dl band) = ~8.6% total with blood sugar >140 mg/dl

~11.9% - Men's Diabetic Burden (NFHS-4)

8.0% + 3.9% = ~11.9%

~8.8% and ~13.8% - Women's and Men's Hypertension Burden (NFHS-4)

6.7% + 1.4% + 0.7% = ~8.8%

10.4% + 2.7% + 0.7% = ~13.8%

Summary: Why the "~" Symbol Was Used

1. They were derived by addition, not directly reported as a single number
2. They exclude the "on-medication" component that NFHS-5/6 explicitly included
3. They cover a narrower age group (15-49 for women; 15-54 for men vs. 15+ in NFHS-5/6)

TABLE 1 INTERPRETATION: Nutritional Status of Adults (Age 15-49 years)

Thinness (Undernutrition)

Overweight and Obesity

TABLE 2 INTERPRETATION: Blood Sugar / Diabetes

Women

Men

TABLE 3 INTERPRETATION: Hypertension

Women

Men

OVERALL CROSS-TABLE INTERPRETATION SUMMARY

NFHS-6 (2023-24) Compared with NFHS-5 and NFHS-4 - India

COMPARISON 1: Nutritional Status (BMI, Age 15-49 years)

NFHS-6 vs NFHS-5 (Nutrition):

• Thinness in women: Slight worsening (+1.0 pp). The NFHS-5 improvement was not sustained.
• Thinness in men: Notable worsening (+3.5 pp). Men's thinness is now equal to women's (both 19.7%) - a first in NFHS history.
• Women's obesity: Most dramatic single-round change - jumped 6.7 pp from 24.0% to 30.7%. This is the largest inter-round rise ever recorded for this indicator.
• Men's obesity: Rose 4.4 pp from 22.9% to 27.3%. Urban men at 36.3%, rural men at 23.0%.

NFHS-6 vs NFHS-4 (Nutrition):

• Thinness: Marginal net improvement for women (-3.2 pp) but nearly zero for men (-0.5 pp) over a decade.
• Obesity: Rose by 10 pp (women) and 8.7 pp (men) over a decade - the defining nutritional trend of the decade.

COMPARISON 2: Diabetes / Blood Sugar (Age 15-49 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

Women

Men

Key NFHS-6 vs NFHS-5 Findings (Diabetes):

• No improvement anywhere in diabetes indicators - every single cell worsened.
• Very high sugar (>160 mg/dl) in men rose by 3.8 pp (7.1% → 10.9%) in a single round - this is the biggest inter-round rise in the diabetic data.
• Urban vs rural gap is widening: Urban women at 21.9% overall burden vs rural 16.2% - a 5.7 pp gap. Urban men at 23.9% vs rural 19.7%.
• Overall burden now crosses 20% in men (20.9%) - 1 in 5 Indian adult men has diabetes or pre-diabetes-level blood sugar.

Key NFHS-6 vs NFHS-4 Findings (Diabetes):

• Women's overall burden more than doubled (~8.6% → 17.8%) over a decade.
• Men's overall burden rose by 9 pp (~11.9% → 20.9%).
• The >160 mg/dl (very high) category rose by 6.3 pp in women and 7.0 pp in men - indicating that not only is diabetes more common, but severity has increased.

COMPARISON 3: Hypertension (Age 15-49/54 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 & 6)

Women

Men

Key NFHS-6 vs NFHS-5 Findings (Hypertension):

• Hypertension is the ONLY domain where NFHS-6 shows improvement over NFHS-5 - across all indicators, all sex groups.
• Mild hypertension fell sharply in both women (-3.0 pp) and men (-3.3 pp). This suggests the segment most responsive to lifestyle changes and early treatment is being addressed.
• Severe/moderate hypertension in men fell by 2.3 pp (5.6% → 3.3%) - a nearly 40% relative reduction. This is the single most impressive improvement in the entire NFHS-6 NCD data.
• Rural areas improved more than urban for hypertension - rural women fell from (estimated) ~19% to 17.8%; rural men from (estimated) ~22% to 20.4%. This may reflect expanded ASHA and PHC blood pressure screening programs in rural areas.
• Urban hypertension remains high (women 23.5%, men 26.2%) - urban improvement was slower than rural.

Key NFHS-6 vs NFHS-4 Findings (Hypertension):

• Despite the NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 improvement, both men and women still show higher hypertension in NFHS-6 than NFHS-4 on an absolute basis. However, this comparison is confounded by age-range differences (NFHS-4 age 15-49 vs NFHS-6 age 15+), so the NFHS-4 figures are inherently lower.
• The only genuinely comparable improvement vs NFHS-4 is moderate/severe hypertension in men (3.4% → 3.3%) which is essentially identical - showing the severe end has been held in check.

MASTER COMPARISON: NFHS-6 vs NFHS-5 - At a Glance

What NFHS-6 Tells Us Overall

NFHS Comparison: Nutrition, Diabetes and Hypertension - India

(NFHS-6 → NFHS-5 → NFHS-4, National Totals Only)

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status of Adults (Age 15-49 years)

TABLE 2: Blood Sugar / Diabetes among Adults

Women (Age 15-49 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6)

Men (Age 15-54 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6)

TABLE 3: Hypertension among Adults

Women (Age 15-49 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6)

Men (Age 15-54 in NFHS-4; Age 15+ in NFHS-5 and NFHS-6)

TABLE 4: Master Summary - NFHS-6 vs NFHS-5 vs NFHS-4 at a Glance

INTERPRETATION OF EACH TABLE

Table 1 - Nutrition

Table 2 - Diabetes

Table 3 - Hypertension

Table 4 - Master Summary

• Obesity and diabetes are India's rising emergencies - uninterrupted worsening across all three rounds
• Undernutrition is stalling - modest gains of NFHS-5 are being reversed in NFHS-6
• Hypertension shows a cautious but genuine turning point - the only bright spot in NFHS-6 NCD data
• The double burden (simultaneous undernutrition + obesity) defines India's nutritional landscape in 2024, with no resolution in sight without structural dietary and physical activity interventions

TABLE 1 - Nutrition

• Thinness improved from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5 but reversed in NFHS-6 - men's thinness rose sharply from 16.2% back to 19.7%, wiping out a decade of gains.
• Overweight/obesity rose consistently in every round without exception - women went from 20.7% to 30.7% over the decade, the fastest-rising indicator in the entire dataset.

TABLE 2 - Diabetes

• Every diabetes indicator worsened in every round - there is no improvement anywhere across all three surveys in any sex.
• The very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) category nearly tripled in a decade for both sexes (women 2.8% → 9.1%; men 3.9% → 10.9%), indicating a large undiagnosed and untreated pool progressing to severe disease.

TABLE 3 - Hypertension

• Hypertension is the only NCD domain that improved in NFHS-6 - overall burden fell in both women (21.3% → 19.4%) and men (24.0% → 22.1%) compared to NFHS-5.
• Moderate/severe hypertension in men fell most dramatically (5.6% → 3.3%), likely reflecting better treatment coverage and expanded primary care screening under national health programs.

TABLE 4 - Master Summary

• Diabetes and obesity are accelerating - worsening in every round with no sign of plateauing; hypertension is the only indicator bucking this trend.
• India carries a double burden - thinness (~20%) and obesity (~29%) coexist simultaneously, making a single-strategy nutrition policy insufficient.

NFHS Comparison: Nutrition, Diabetes and Hypertension - India

(NFHS-6 → NFHS-5 → NFHS-4, National Totals Only)

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status of Adults

• Thinness improved from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5 but reversed in NFHS-6 - men's thinness rose sharply from 16.2% back to 19.7%, wiping out a decade of gains.
• Overweight/obesity rose consistently in every round - women went from 20.7% to 30.7% over the decade, the fastest-rising indicator in the entire dataset.

TABLE 2: Blood Sugar / Diabetes among Adults

⚠️ Age note: NFHS-4 measured women age 15-49 years and men age 15-54 years. NFHS-5 and NFHS-6 extended coverage to age 15 years and above (no upper limit). The inclusion of older age groups (50+) in NFHS-5/6 inflates figures compared to NFHS-4, so NFHS-4 figures carry a (~) to indicate they are not fully comparable.

Women

Men

• Every diabetes indicator worsened in every round - no improvement anywhere across all three surveys in any sex.
• Very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) nearly tripled in a decade (women 2.8% → 9.1%; men 3.9% → 10.9%), indicating a large undiagnosed and untreated pool progressing to severe disease.

TABLE 3: Hypertension among Adults

⚠️ Age note: NFHS-4 measured women age 15-49 years and men age 15-54 years. NFHS-5 and NFHS-6 measured adults age 15 years and above (no upper limit). NFHS-4 vs NFHS-5/6 comparison for hypertension is substantially confounded by this age-range difference and should be interpreted with caution. NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 is the valid like-for-like comparison.

Women

Men

• Hypertension is the only NCD domain that improved in NFHS-6 - overall burden fell in both women (21.3% → 19.4%) and men (24.0% → 22.1%) compared to NFHS-5.
• Moderate/severe hypertension in men fell most dramatically (5.6% → 3.3%), likely reflecting better treatment coverage and expanded primary care screening.

TABLE 4: Master Summary - All Domains

• Diabetes and obesity are accelerating - worsening in every round with no sign of plateauing; hypertension is the only indicator bucking this trend.
• India carries a double burden - thinness (~20%) and obesity (~29%) coexist simultaneously, and the age-range consistency in nutrition data (15-49 years across all three rounds) makes this the most reliable and directly comparable trend in the entire dataset.

1. You saw it in the NFHS-5/6 full report tables - some state-level tables do show age bands going up to 70+ for hypertension/diabetes. If so, I can reflect that exact range.
2. You want to write it as "15+ years (including 70+)" - meaning you want to emphasise that older adults are included, using 70+ as an illustrative upper end rather than an official cap.

Separate Interpretations for Women and Men - NFHS-4, NFHS-5, NFHS-6

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status (Age 15-49 years)

WOMEN - Nutrition Interpretation

• Thinness: Women's thinness showed a promising decline from 22.9% (NFHS-4) to 18.7% (NFHS-5), suggesting that nutrition programs like POSHAN Abhiyaan had a positive effect during that period. However, NFHS-6 shows a reversal to 19.7%, meaning nearly 1 in 5 adult women is still undernourished. The gains of NFHS-5 were fragile and have not been sustained, likely due to post-COVID economic stress and food price inflation in 2022-23.
• Overweight/Obesity: This is the most alarming finding for women. Overweight/obesity rose from 20.7% to 24.0% to 30.7% - a steep and uninterrupted climb across all three rounds. The NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 jump of 6.7 percentage points in a single round is the largest inter-round rise ever recorded for this indicator. Nearly 1 in 3 Indian women is now overweight or obese. Women's overweight rate (30.7%) now exceeds men's (27.3%) for the first time, driven by lower physical activity levels, hormonal factors and increasing consumption of processed foods.

MEN - Nutrition Interpretation

• Thinness: Men showed a good improvement from 20.2% (NFHS-4) to 16.2% (NFHS-5), a 4 percentage point decline. However, NFHS-6 recorded a sharp reversal to 19.7% - nearly back to the NFHS-4 level. This sharp rebound of 3.5 pp in a single round is more severe than women's reversal, and men's thinness now equals women's at 19.7%, which has never occurred in any previous NFHS round. The decade's net gain for men is virtually zero (-0.5 pp over 10 years), making this the most stagnant undernutrition indicator.
• Overweight/Obesity: Like women, men's obesity rose consistently across all rounds - from 18.6% to 22.9% to 27.3%. The 8.7 pp rise over a decade reflects the same nutrition transition forces - urban sedentary lifestyles, dietary shifts and economic development. The NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 rise of 4.4 pp is significant but slightly lower than women's 6.7 pp rise, suggesting the obesity surge is currently hitting women harder than men.

TABLE 2: Diabetes / Blood Sugar

Women (Age 15-49 yrs in NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs in NFHS-5 & 6)

Men (Age 15-54 yrs in NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs in NFHS-5 & 6)

WOMEN - Diabetes Interpretation

• Overall burden: Women's diabetic burden more than doubled from ~8.6% (NFHS-4) to 17.8% (NFHS-6) over the decade. The NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 rise of 4.3 pp shows no sign of slowing down. Nearly 1 in 6 Indian women aged 15 and above now has high blood sugar or is on diabetes medication.
• Very high sugar (>160 mg/dl): This category is particularly alarming for women - it rose more than threefold from 2.8% (NFHS-4) to 9.1% (NFHS-6). This means a growing proportion of women have severely uncontrolled blood sugar, representing likely end-organ damage risk. Women tend to be diagnosed later and treated less aggressively than men in the Indian context, which may explain the rapid rise in the very high category.
• Treatment gap: Only 1.1% of women (NFHS-5 data) had controlled diabetes (normal sugar on medication), despite 13.5% overall burden at that time. This enormous gap between burden and treatment is a specific challenge for women's health systems in India.

MEN - Diabetes Interpretation

• Overall burden: Men carry a consistently higher diabetic burden than women across all three rounds (NFHS-6: 20.9% vs 17.8% in women). By NFHS-6, 1 in 5 Indian adult men has high blood sugar or is on diabetes medication. The NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 rise of 5.3 pp is steeper than women's 4.3 pp rise, suggesting men's diabetes epidemic is currently accelerating faster.
• Very high sugar (>160 mg/dl): Rose from 3.9% (NFHS-4) to 10.9% (NFHS-6) - nearly a threefold rise. The NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 jump of 3.8 pp in this category is the single largest one-round deterioration in the entire diabetes dataset. Men's higher alcohol consumption, greater abdominal obesity and tendency to delay healthcare seeking likely contribute to higher rates of uncontrolled severe diabetes.
• High sugar (141-160 mg/dl): Interestingly, this category showed a slight dip from NFHS-4 (8.0%) to NFHS-5 (7.3%) before rising again in NFHS-6 (8.8%). This may reflect marginally better detection and treatment of the mild-moderate range in men during the NFHS-5 period, but gains were not sustained.

TABLE 3: Hypertension

Women (Age 15-49 yrs in NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs in NFHS-5 & 6)

Men (Age 15-54 yrs in NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs in NFHS-5 & 6)

WOMEN - Hypertension Interpretation

• Overall burden: Women's overall hypertension burden fell from 21.3% (NFHS-5) to 19.4% (NFHS-6) - a 1.9 pp improvement, making hypertension the only NCD indicator showing improvement for women in NFHS-6. This likely reflects expanded ASHA-led community BP screening and wider access to antihypertensives at the primary care level.
• Mild hypertension: Fell notably from 12.4% (NFHS-5) to 9.4% (NFHS-6), a 3 pp reduction. Mild hypertension is the category most responsive to lifestyle modification and early pharmacological intervention. This decline suggests that awareness campaigns and early detection are reaching women more effectively now than in the NFHS-5 period.
• Moderate/severe hypertension: Remained nearly stable (5.2% → 4.8%), a marginal 0.4 pp improvement. This slower improvement compared to mild hypertension is expected - severe hypertension requires sustained medication and closer clinical follow-up, which remains a challenge in the Indian healthcare system for women who often deprioritise their own health.

MEN - Hypertension Interpretation

• Overall burden: Men's overall hypertension burden fell from 24.0% (NFHS-5) to 22.1% (NFHS-6) - same 1.9 pp improvement as women. Men consistently show higher hypertension than women across all rounds, consistent with global epidemiology where men develop hypertension at younger ages before women lose their estrogen-mediated cardiovascular protection after menopause.
• Mild hypertension: Declined from 15.7% (NFHS-5) to 12.4% (NFHS-6), a 3.3 pp reduction - slightly larger than women's decline. This is the biggest absolute improvement in any single hypertension indicator across both sexes, and suggests that the mildly hypertensive male population is responding to increased health awareness and access to care.
• Moderate/severe hypertension: Showed the most dramatic improvement of all hypertension indicators - fell from 5.6% (NFHS-5) to 3.3% (NFHS-6), a 2.3 pp drop and nearly a 40% relative reduction in one round. This striking fall in men's severe hypertension likely reflects better treatment uptake of the most symptomatic and high-risk cases, improved availability of generic antihypertensives, and expanded NCD clinics under Ayushman Bharat. Notably, men's moderate/severe hypertension in NFHS-6 (3.3%) has returned to nearly the NFHS-4 level (3.4%), representing a genuine decade-long stabilisation of the severe end of the spectrum.

Interpretations - Women and Men Separately (2-3 Points Each)

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status (Age 15-49 years)

• Thinness improved from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5 but reversed in NFHS-6 (18.7% → 19.7%), showing nutritional gains were not sustained.
• Overweight/obesity rose sharply in every round (20.7% → 30.7%), with the NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 jump of 6.7 pp being the largest single-round rise recorded - nearly 1 in 3 women is now overweight or obese.

• Thinness reversed sharply in NFHS-6 (16.2% → 19.7%), erasing the gains of NFHS-5 almost entirely - men's thinness now equals women's for the first time.
• Overweight/obesity rose consistently across all rounds (18.6% → 27.3%), though the rise is slightly slower than in women.

TABLE 2: Diabetes / Blood Sugar

Women (Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall diabetic burden more than doubled over the decade (~8.6% → 17.8%), with no improvement in any round - nearly 1 in 6 women now has high blood sugar or is on treatment.
• Very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) rose more than threefold (2.8% → 9.1%), indicating a large and growing pool of women with severely uncontrolled, likely undiagnosed diabetes.

Men (Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Men carry a higher diabetic burden than women in every round - by NFHS-6, 1 in 5 men (20.9%) has high blood sugar or is on treatment, and the NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 rise (+5.3 pp) is steeper than women's (+4.3 pp), showing men's epidemic is accelerating faster.
• Very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) nearly tripled (3.9% → 10.9%), with the NFHS-5 to NFHS-6 jump of 3.8 pp being the largest single-round deterioration in the entire diabetes dataset across both sexes.

TABLE 3: Hypertension

Women (Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall hypertension burden improved from 21.3% (NFHS-5) to 19.4% (NFHS-6), making this the only NCD indicator showing improvement for women in NFHS-6.
• Mild hypertension drove most of this improvement (12.4% → 9.4%), while moderate/severe hypertension barely changed (5.2% → 4.8%), suggesting early-stage hypertension is being addressed but severe cases remain difficult to control.

Men (Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall hypertension burden fell from 24.0% (NFHS-5) to 22.1% (NFHS-6), and men consistently show higher hypertension than women across all rounds, consistent with men developing hypertension at younger ages.
• Moderate/severe hypertension in men showed the most dramatic improvement of all hypertension indicators - falling from 5.6% to 3.3%, a 40% relative reduction in one round, suggesting better treatment uptake for the most severe and symptomatic cases.

Example from the data:

• NFHS-5 = 24.0%
• NFHS-6 = 30.7%
• Difference = 30.7 - 24.0 = 6.7 pp

Why not just say "percent increase"?

• pp = how much the number itself changed (absolute)
• % increase = how much it changed relative to the starting value

NFHS Comparison with Relative % Change - India

Formula: (NFHS-6 - NFHS-5) / NFHS-5 × 100 and (NFHS-6 - NFHS-4) / NFHS-4 × 100

TABLE 1: Nutritional Status (Age 15-49 years)

• Thinness reduced by 14.0% relative to NFHS-4 over the decade, but reversed by 5.3% in the most recent round - showing fragile and unsustained progress.
• Overweight/obesity surged by 27.9% in just one round (NFHS-5 to NFHS-6) and by a massive 48.3% over the decade - nearly a 50% relative rise in 10 years.

• Thinness reversed sharply by 21.6% in a single round (NFHS-5 to NFHS-6), the largest single-round reversal in the nutrition data, wiping out almost all decade gains.
• Overweight/obesity rose by 19.2% in one round and by 46.8% over the decade - almost identical trajectory to women.

TABLE 2: Diabetes / Blood Sugar

Women (Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall diabetic burden rose by 31.9% in one round and by 107% over the decade - it has more than doubled in relative terms since NFHS-4.
• Very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) rose by 44.4% in a single round and by an extraordinary 225% over the decade - a more than threefold rise in 10 years, the highest relative increase in the entire dataset.

Men (Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall diabetic burden rose by 34.0% in one round - faster than women's 31.9% - and by 75.6% over the decade, meaning men's burden is nearly 1.8 times what it was in NFHS-4.
• Very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) rose by 53.5% in a single round (NFHS-5 to NFHS-6) - the highest single-round relative increase across both sexes and all diabetes indicators - and by 179.5% over the decade.

TABLE 3: Hypertension

Women (Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall hypertension burden fell by 9.0% relative to NFHS-5 - the only relative decline across all NCD indicators in NFHS-6, confirming this as the single positive NCD finding.
• Mild hypertension showed the strongest improvement - a 24.2% relative reduction in one round, meaning roughly 1 in 4 mildly hypertensive women from the NFHS-5 period has improved or been treated.

Men (Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

• Overall hypertension fell by 7.9% relative to NFHS-5, and moderate/severe hypertension showed a remarkable 41.1% relative reduction in a single round - the largest relative improvement of any indicator across all three tables.
• Moderate/severe hypertension in men (3.3%) in NFHS-6 is now nearly identical to NFHS-4 (3.4%), representing a near-complete reversal of the NFHS-5 surge - a genuine treatment success story.

Decoding Trends in Nutrition, Diabetes and Hypertension among Adults in India: A Comparative Analysis of National Family Health Survey Data (NFHS-4, NFHS-5 and NFHS-6)

Abstract

Introduction

Methodology

• Nutritional status: Proportion of adults with BMI below normal (<18.5 kg/m²; "thin") and proportion overweight or obese (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m²), for women and men separately, age group 15-49 years (consistent across all three rounds).
• Blood sugar (diabetes): Proportion with high blood sugar (141-160 mg/dl), very high blood sugar (>160 mg/dl) and overall diabetic burden (blood sugar >140 mg/dl or taking medication to lower blood sugar), for women and men separately.
• Hypertension: Proportion with mildly elevated blood pressure (systolic 140-159 mmHg and/or diastolic 90-99 mmHg), moderately/severely elevated blood pressure (systolic ≥160 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥100 mmHg), and overall hypertension burden (elevated BP or taking antihypertensive medication), for women and men separately.

Results

3.1 Nutritional Status of Adults (Age 15-49 years)

3.2 Blood Sugar / Diabetes (Women: Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

3.3 Blood Sugar / Diabetes (Men: Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

3.4 Hypertension (Women: Age 15-49 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

3.5 Hypertension (Men: Age 15-54 yrs NFHS-4; Age 15+ yrs NFHS-5 & 6)

Discussion

Conclusion

References

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