India faces a dual burden of persistent undernutrition and rising non-communicable diseases. Analyse with reference to NFHS-6 data.

Q. India faces a dual burden of persistent undernutrition and rising non-communicable diseases. Analyse with reference to NFHS-6 data. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

The National Family Health Survey-6 (2023-24), covering nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts [2], captures India mid-way through an epidemiological transition: undernutrition is receding but not defeated, even as lifestyle diseases climb — both burdens now pressing on the same population.

Undernutrition: real gains, unfinished agenda - Stunting among under-fives fell from 35.5% to 29.3%, and severe wasting from 7.7% to 5.2% [2] — yet nearly one in three children remains chronically undernourished. - Progress rests on strengthened maternal care: antenatal coverage reached 95.9%, first-trimester ANC rose from 70.0% to 76.2%, and institutional deliveries from 88.6% to 90.6% [1]. - Deficits are now concentrated rather than universal; NFHS-6's district-level granularity exposes specific pockets needing targeted Poshan 2.0 delivery [2].

Rising non-communicable disease risk - High blood sugar rose from 15.6% to 20.9% among men and 13.5% to 17.8% among women [3]. - Overweight/obesity climbed from 22.9% to 27.3% (men) and 24% to 30.7% (women) [3]. - Hypertension, however, edged down (men 24.0%→22.1%; women 21.3%→19.4%) [3] — indicating NCD risk is rising unevenly, driven chiefly by metabolic and dietary factors.

Why the two coexist - Nutrition transition: cheap, calorie-dense processed food replaces caloric deficit with dietary imbalance — undernourished children and overweight adults within one household. - Life-course link: early-life stunting raises adult metabolic vulnerability, so today's undernutrition seeds tomorrow's diabetes. - System strain: an architecture built for maternal-child survival must now also deliver chronic-disease screening and follow-up.

NFHS-6 thus records India winning decisively on survival while its disease burden shifts shape. The way forward lies in convergence — integrating nutrition missions with population-level NCD screening at primary-care level, and using NFHS-6's district data to act on both ends of the malnutrition spectrum. Treating nutrition and NCDs as one continuum, rather than rival priorities, is essential to realising SDG-3.

(~315 words)

Sources: 1. NFHS-6 Reflects India's Accelerated Progress in Maternal Health — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare — ANC coverage, first-trimester ANC, institutional deliveries 2. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) 2023-24 — IIPS, Mumbai (nodal agency) — survey coverage (6.79 lakh households, 715 districts), stunting and severe wasting 3. NFHS-6 (2023-24) National Fact Sheets — IIPS, Mumbai — high blood sugar, overweight/obesity and hypertension prevalence