By Satya Narayan Misra, Emeritus Professor in Bhubaneswar, June 1, 2026: The just released NFHS VI survey covering 6.7 lakh households across 715 districts of India, covering the period 2023-24 throws a few major surprises in the health & family welfare spectrum of India. Starting with the first survey in the year 1992-93, the International Institute for Population Science (IIPS) , a highly professional and independent institution, conducts this survey under the aegis of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare , in a very scientific manner by using robust statistical tools.

Prof James, its earlier director, notes that the surveyors provide high quality data on health & family welfare, levels of fertility, infant mortality & child health. These inputs, in turn, assist policy makers and program managers to examine effectiveness of ongoing programs in India’s health sector, which is often blighted by very high levels of malnutrition among children, anaemia among women, leading to our poor rating in Global Hunger Index. The surprise findings of this year’s survey are: rising levels of obesity among both men & women, and a sharp spurt in Diabetes.

The Twin Menace

The NFHS VI survey brings out the following trend since 2015-16 in respect of high blood sugar and people with obesity, both among men & women

Type of Symptom          NFHHS IV (2015-16)        NFHS V (2019-21)          NFHS VI (2023-24)

High Blood Sugar (Men)              8%                                               15.6%                                  20.9%
HBS (Women)                                5 .8%                                           13.5%                                  17.8%
% People with High BMI (M)      18.9%                                          22.9%                                 27.3%
% Women with High BMI            20.6%                                          24%                                    30.7%

Interestingly, obesity has become a far more serious problem for women compared to men. Weight is a major risk factor for diabetes, cardio vascular disease, hypertension & various kinds of cancer. The sales of injectable GLP-1 against Type 2 diabetes such as Moujara, Wogovy, & Ozempic have surged by a whopping 22%. Obesity can become a key driver for future health care costs and chronic disease burden.

Nutritional Status: Trends

The recent data shows a mild reduction in low weight women, and children who are stunted (low height for age), wasted (low weight for age) and underweight. India is home to the largest number of under nutriated children despite the marquee Integrated Child Development Program, kick started by Indira Gandhi on 2nd October 1975 and subsequent Poshan program flagged by Mr Modi in 2018.The 14 lakh Anganwadi Centres managed by 13 lakh workers and 10 lakh assistants are the epicentres to provide supplementary nutrition, folic acid, micronutrients to stem malnutrition among 40 million poor children and 10 lakh pregnant and nursing mothers. Bereft of accountability and poor supply chain mismanagement, one of the basic pillars of Viksit Bharat, adequate provision of nutrition, remains weak and sclerotic.

Parameter                           NFHS IV                           NFHS V                            NFHS VI

Children who are stunted         38.4%                                 35.5%                                     29.3%
Children who are Wasted         21%                                     19.3%                                      19%
Underweight Children               35.8%                                 32.1%                                      31.8%

Quite clearly the improvements in our nutrition parameters are insignificant. This also is responsible for the high levels of Infant Mortality Rates which stand at 35.2 per 1000. The NFHS VI Survey does not bring out the latest IMR. Prof Partha Dasgupta in a seminal book “An Enquiry in to Wellbeing & Destitution” brings out how protein is critical for brain development in the first three years of a child. Starved of the 12 grams of protein per day which Anganwadis promises to feed them, the damage to brain becomes irreversible later. The promise of the Constitution that it’s the duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition remains illusory for the poor Indian citizens.

Missing Anemia

Chastened by the high levels of anemia among girls / women and children, Mr Modi launched the Anaemia Mukt Bharat Program in 2018, with thrust on Iron & Folic Acid supplementation, Deworming and IFA fortified food. The % children suffering from anemia went up from 58.6% in NFHS IV Survey to 67.1% in the NFHS V Survey. In case of women in the age group of 15-49, an increase was noticed from 53.1% in NFHS IV survey to 57% in the Vth Survey.

Almost every state has been guilty of having a high incidence of anemia without appropriate mitigating measures. The Supreme Court in a land mark judgement in January 2026 in Jaya Thakur Vs UOI has decreed that good menstrual health is part of right to life. Strangely the NFHS VI Survey skirts collecting data on anemia on the specious plea that ‘capillary blood sampling method led to inconsistent data & potential overestimation’. This is indeed a serious omission and clearly manifests the present government’s paranoia about any data showing the government in poor light.

The Reality

The Health Minister Mr Nadda in his forward to the NFHS VI Survey has observed that the government wants to track the performance of various flagship programs launched by the Government. Of these, Ayushman Bharat Scheme has played a role in increased access to affordable health care services. Private insurance & government health schemes today account for 19% of total health expenditure while out of pocket expenditure is humungously high at 43.3%.

Central government Health expenditure is around 1.9% of GDP as against 2.5% targeted by National Health Policy of 2017. It is considerably lower than the spending on National Health Service in UK or Canada (8% of GDP), which assures universal health care and sound public health infrastructure. There is a strong case for opting for NHS type health program in India by building better primary health care centres and facilities, rather than opting for private corporate driven US insurance system, which is prohibitively expensive.

The Poshan 2.0 scheme is inadequately funded as the allocation has increased at a snail’s pace from Rs 11000 Cr in 2020-21 to Rs 12500 Cr in the budget of 2025-26. The program is high on hype and low in delivery. The critical pillar of nutrition and health care, sans state support and commitment, has driven the bottom half of India’s population on the precipice of a health disaster.

Health is a state subject and some of the states like Kerala and Delhi have edifying record as the NFHS Surveys clearly demonstrate. However, passing the blame to the states by the Centre does not reflect well on the mission of Viksit Bharat.