Diabetes surges among young Indians; need for early screening: Experts
NEW DELHI: Indias battle against diabetes is entering a new phase as diagnostic data warn of a marked rise in the disease among younger adults, experts said on Thursday on the occasion of World Diabetes Day. Type 2 diabetes, which was reported among older adults, is now increasingly being detected in people in their twenties and early thirties, a shift experts describe as both alarming and preventable. Dr. Ambrish Mithal, Chair and Head, Endocrinology and Diabetes at Max Healthcare and former Honorary President of AIIMS Gorakhpur, said, India finds itself at a critical juncture in its diabetes response, where the sheer scale of young-adult onset is now meeting the tools to intervene early. It is crucial that everyone, especially those aged 25 and above, undergo at least an annual screening to catch early metabolic changes and act before complications develop, he said. Alongside regular testing, adopting a balanced diet rich in fibre, whole grains, and traditional foods such as millets can significantly improve insulin sensitivity and help maintain long-term metabolic health. For individuals struggling with obesity, lifestyle interventions remain the cornerstone, and in select cases, medically supervised weight-management therapies may complement these efforts to reduce diabetes risk, he added. The challenge now is to transition from identifying disease to intercepting it, to make metabolic screening, risk-profiling, and follow-up a routine part of health checks for young adults, not just middle-aged adults. If this generational shift takes root, the pipeline of complications, organ damage, and lifelong medication dependence can be dramatically altered, said the Padma Bhushan awardee. According to the 2023 Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study India has an estimated 101 million people with diabetes, 136 million pre diabetics and 315 million people with hypertension in 2021. The study, which ICMR coordinated with Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF), found the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes of 11.4% and 15.3%, respectively, in India. According to the latest findings from Mahajan Imaging and Labs, one of Delhi NCRs leading integrated diagnostic chains, there has been a significant surge in metabolic and glucose screenings among adults under 40 in 2025. Of those tested, nearly 38% of fasting glucose results, 20% of HbA1c readings, and 35% of post-prandial glucose outcomes were abnormal, with a notable proportion of critical cases identified early. The high percentage of abnormal findings among young adults underscores both a growing metabolic risk and the impact of expanded preventive screening. This trend reinforces urgent calls for early intervention and proactive care, said experts. Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder and Chairman, Mahajan Imaging and Labs said, We are witnessing a clear metabolic shift in Indias younger population. People in their twenties and thirties, who appear to be fit, appear to show early signs of insulin resistance. More of them are getting tested early, an encouraging sign that prevention is finally being taken seriously. Diabetes is not just a blood glucose value; it reflects a broader metabolic imbalance. Left unchecked, it can lead to complications such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, amputations, and fatty liver. Blood glucose, like blood pressure, can serve as an early warning sign, he added. Modern diagnostic tools, including fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, fructosamine, C-peptide, adiponectin and leptin, MODY genetic tests, autoantibody screening, and continuous glucose monitoring with HbA1c, allow early detection of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes. Integrating these tests with routine screening enables timely intervention, helping young adults prevent long-term complications, said the Padma Shri. The real progress in diabetes prevention will come from integrating routine lab diagnostics with emerging molecular tools. Traditional metrics like HbA1c or fasting glucose are essential, but when combined with markers that map inflammation and metabolic stress, we start identifying risk years before diabetes sets in. This convergence of preventive pathology, genomics, and data analytics is transforming how we understand and predict metabolic disease in Indias young population, said Dr Shelly Mahajan, Lab Director and Clinical Lead, Mahajan Imaging and Labs. Experts say the rise in screening volumes across diagnostic centres aligns with Indias growing focus on preventive and genomic testing, both in private healthcare and through national programmes. The government initiative, which integrates community-level screening for diabetes and hypertension, has been expanding across districts to improve early detection and disease tracking. While traditional tests like fasting glucose and HbA1c remain central to diabetes monitoring, experts caution against an over-reliance on single markers. The emerging consensus is on a more holistic, data-driven approach that includes body composition tracking, genomic risk mapping, and metabolic profiling, not as a luxury, but as a frontline preventive strategy. Experts said the countrys response must now focus on early risk identification, continuous monitoring, and lifestyle modification, especially among the working-age population. The consensus is clear that Indias youth are both the most vulnerable and the most capable of reversing the countrys diabetes trajectory through awareness, timely screening, and proactive care, they said.
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