One in ten adolescents in Telangana is now pre-diabetic

New surveys show a sharp rise in diabetes and pre-diabetes among adolescents in Telangana, with growing obesity levels and poor physical activity. Health experts and NIN are calling for stricter controls and health taxes on sugary drinks and high-fat, high-sugar foods

Hyderabad: The long-held notion that diabetes is primarily a disease of adulthood is fast becoming obsolete. The health crisis now is rapidly shifting to classrooms and college campuses, as studies after study consistently indicate the emergence of type 2 diabetes as a silent epidemic among adolescents.

Telangana and other Southern Indian States are now central to the crisis of diabetes among adolescents. Based on the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) survey, it estimated that in Telangana, about 1.1 percent of adolescents (10 to 19 years) are diabetic. The CNNS survey also indicated that one in every ten adolescents in Telangana is pre-diabetic.

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A more recent survey, the ‘Children in India-2025’ report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has indicated that 12.5 percent of adolescents in Telangana are currently overweight or obese, a clear indicator of the expanding health crisis. The same study has said that only 20.4 percent of them engage in low daily physical activity, yet another indicator of the expanding health crisis.

City endocrinologists have said that the high risk among adolescents is also rooted in the ‘thin-fat’ Indian phenotype, which makes young people prone to developing insulin resistance at a lower BMI due to increased visceral fat around their organs.

The Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and other voluntary organisations, along with ICMR, have been advocating curbing of cheap, aggressively marketed ultra-processed foods, fast food, and sugary drinks, which have replaced the traditional high-fibre Indian diet.

In fact, NIN along with a consortium of top research institutions in India have recommended imposition of a health tax on High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) foods and Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs), and the restriction of advertisement of such food products to children across all formats such as television and internet, as a measure to combat adolescent obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The consortium, titled ‘Let’s Fix Our Food’ and led by NIN, recommended an additional health tax of 20 percent to 30 percent on sweets and confectionery, a health tax of 32 percent on SSBs and HFSS. The group recently submitted its report to ICMR and NITI Aayog. Type 2 diabetes among adolescents is often more aggressive and leads to early onset of complications like kidney failure and eye damage decades sooner than in adults.

Some important points about adolescent diabetes:

Type 2 diabetes is now an epidemic among adolescents in classrooms and college campuses

In Telangana, an estimated 1.1 percent of adolescents (10-19 years) are diabetic

One in every ten adolescents in Telangana is prediabetic

12.5 percent of adolescents in TS are overweight or obese

Only 20.4 percent of adolescents in TS engage in low physical activity

A health tax (20 percent) on sugary drinks, food high in fat and sugar is being advocated