Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 3: Tobacco consumption has declined significantly in J&K over the past five years, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6).
Among men aged 15 years and above, tobacco use fell from 38.5 percent in NFHS-5 (2019-21) to 30.1 percent in NFHS-6 (2023-24). Among women, it declined marginally from 3.6 percent to 3.1 percent during the same period.
Despite the improvement, nearly one in three men in the Union Territory continues to use tobacco in some form.
The survey also found a clear rural-urban divide in tobacco use. In rural areas, 31.7 percent of men and 3.4 percent of women reported using tobacco, compared with 24.8 percent of men and 1.8 percent of women in urban areas.
Alcohol consumption, meanwhile, remained relatively low. Only 7.3 percent of men reported consuming alcohol, down from 8.7 percent in NFHS-5, while the proportion among women remained unchanged at 0.2 percent.
While the survey points to progress in reducing tobacco and alcohol use, it also highlights a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across J&K.
The prevalence of high blood sugar levels or diabetes increased sharply among both men and women.
Among women, the proportion with high or very high blood sugar levels, or those taking medication to control blood sugar, rose from 8.7 percent in NFHS-5 to 13 percent in NFHS-6.
Among men, the figure increased from 8 percent to 11.3 percent.
Urban residents were found to be more vulnerable to diabetes. Seventeen percent of urban women had high blood sugar levels or were taking medication for diabetes, compared with 11.9 percent in rural areas.
Hypertension also showed an upward trend. One in four women (25 percent) had elevated blood pressure or were taking medication to control it, up from 20 percent in the previous survey.
Among men, the prevalence increased from 18.9 percent to 20.9 percent.
The survey further highlighted rising levels of overweight and obesity. More than one-third of women in J&K (36.7 percent) were overweight or obese, compared with 29.4 percent in NFHS-5.
The problem was particularly acute in urban areas, where nearly half of women (48.7 percent) fell into this category.
Among men, 27.1 percent were classified as overweight or obese.
At the same time, the survey found an increase in the proportion of underweight adults, pointing to a double burden of malnutrition.
The percentage of underweight women rose from 5.2 percent to 9.5 percent, while the figure for men increased from 4.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
The findings suggest that while J&K has made progress in curbing tobacco and alcohol consumption, it is increasingly grappling with lifestyle-related diseases and nutritional imbalances.
Health experts attribute the rise in diabetes, hypertension and obesity to changing dietary habits, sedentary lifestyles and inadequate preventive healthcare.
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