Higher, sweeter, heavier: Not necessarily healthier

National Family Health Survey-4

The recently released results of India's National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS4)[1] provide an overview of the health of the nation. A comprehensive exercise conducted across all states and union territories; its well-planned methodology and well-executed implementation ensure accuracy of data. In recent years, NFHS has begun assessing indicators of metabolic and vascular health so as to determine the burden of noncommunicable disease (NCD) and their risk factors.

NFHS4 has reported, among other parameters, the prevalence of underweight, obesity, hypertension, and “high blood sugar” in all states and districts. Although the cutoffs chosen for some indices (such as body mass index [BMI] and plasma glucose) may differ from the ones generally accepted in modern endocrinology, the results provide an estimate of the burden of metabolic dysfunction. Similarly, though NFHS4 uses descriptors which are not entirely accurate (for example, “sugar” instead of “glucose”), this should not distract the reader from interpreting the data properly. NFHS4 also describes the prevalence of certain risk factors for NCD such as alcohol and tobacco use as well.

• References

• 1 Key Findings from NFHS-4. Available from: http://www.rchiips.org/NFHS/factsheet_NFHS-4.shtml [Last accessed on 2017 Apr 01].
• 2 Kalra S, Kumar A, Jarhyan P, Unnikrishnan AG. Endemic or epidemic? Measuring the endemicity index of diabetes. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2015; 19: 5-7
• 3 Jung RT. Obesity as a disease. Br Med Bull 1997; 53: 307-321