National Family Health Survey-6: Kerala leads in female obesity and NCD prevalence
Data from the National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6/2023-24) has mixed results for Kerala, with the state making significant gains in immunization coverage, child nutrition and maternal and child health, raising concerns about a sharp rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases and obesity, especially among women.
NFHS-6 also reveals a very dark side of Kerala society, with reported spousal violence rising from 9.8% in NFHS-5 (2019-21) to 17.7% in NFHS-6. Another shameful revelation is the increase in physical violence during pregnancy, which has increased from 0.5% in NFHS-5 to 1.7% in NFHS-6. However, whether this increase is due to increased reporting of violence or an increase in actual violence against women needs to be thoroughly investigated.
Increase in the population over 60 years of age
Kerala’s aging demographic profile is further accentuated in NFHS-6, with the proportion of the population aged 60 and above rising from 18.6% in NFHS-5 (2019–21) to 20.7% in NFHS-6 (2023–24), well above the national average of 12.9%. This demographic profile has profound implications for state health system planning, social security spending, and aged care and social security policy that the state has only begun to acknowledge.
Almost half of Kerala’s adult female population is obese or overweight – NFHS-6 puts the proportion of obese or overweight women in Kerala at a whopping 46.7%, up from 38.2% recorded in NFHS-5. This is well above the national average of 30.7% (which also showed an increase from 24% in the NFHS-5).
About 37% of men in Kerala are also overweight or obese, compared to the national average of 27.3%.
Non-communicable diseases
The increasing burden of NCDs in the state is well documented in many previous studies. The NFHS-6 data shows that Kerala is far ahead of the national average in terms of NCD prevalence.
The NFHS-6 reports the proportion of women aged 15-49 with high (systolic 141-160 mg/dL) or very high (above systolic 160 mg/dL) blood sugar and already taking medication at 28.9% (national average is 17.8%) and the proportion of men in the same category (national average 31.9%)
About 36.6% of men and 31.9% of women in Kerala have high blood pressure or hypertension and are taking medication, compared to the national average of 22.1% and 19.4%.
A rapidly aging population and high prevalence of non-communicable diseases indicate that Kerala’s future public health challenges are enormous and will have a significant impact on the state’s health expenditure as well as non-recurring health expenditure.
Profits
However, Kerala has made significant gains in terms of immunization, child nutrition status as per NFHS-6. The proportion of fully immunized children in the 12-13 month age group improved from 78.4% in NFHS-5 to 84.9%. Vaccination against rotavirus (the vaccine was included in the national immunization schedule in 2019) showed a jump from 9.5% to 87.2%. Coverage with the second dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV2) also jumped from 31.9% to 83.3% between the two NFHS rounds. About 95.2% of immunizations in the state are done in public hospitals.
Baby food
Regarding child nutrition, the proportion of stunting among children under 5 years decreased from 23.4% to 20.1%; waste shows a decrease from 15.8% to 10.9%; the proportion of underweight children decreased slightly from 19.7% to 17.8% and the proportion of overweight children showed a marginal decrease from 4% to 2.1% between NFHS 5 and 6.
Male alcohol consumption in the state now stands at 22.7%, a slight increase from 19.9% in NFHS-5, while tobacco use shows a slight decrease from 16.9% to 15.9% in NFHS-6.
The NFHS-6 survey covered 6,79,238 households, 7,16,397 females and 1,00,977 males across the country. In Kerala, 13,005 households were surveyed, of which 11,187 were female and 1,542 were male.
Published – 29 May 2026 23:55 IST