India's Prediabetes Numbers
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
Prediabetes in India is not a niche finding. It is the larger of the two populations.
The ICMR-INDIAB national study put prediabetes at 15.3% of adults — roughly 136 million people. For comparison, it found diabetes in 11.4%, around 101 million. There are more Indians in the prediabetes stage than in the diabetes stage.
Variation between states is enormous, ranging from 6.8% in Mizoram to 31.3% in Sikkim. So national averages tell you relatively little about your own region.
The study also found that rural areas are catching up quickly, particularly for prediabetes. This is no longer a metro phenomenon.
Two things follow that matter to you personally.
The first is that being in this group is unremarkable. If roughly one adult in six or seven has prediabetes, a result like yours is common rather than unlucky.
The second is more useful. That 136 million is the group where progression can still be prevented — which is exactly why it is described as the critical group for prevention. Nothing about the number reduces what you can do about your own result.
Indians also reach this stage younger and at lower body weight than Europeans.