Mumbai: Much of the recent conversation around diabetes has centred on the growing use of weight-loss drugs. But doctors are noticing another, less discussed trend: Mumbaikars are being diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age than before.Greater awareness and an increased emphasis on routine health checks, particularly since the Covid pandemic, are helping people detect the condition earlier—often before symptoms appear.“An analysis of patient records at my centre has found that the average age at diagnosis has dropped from 43 to 38 years in the five years after Covid,” said diabetologist Dr Rajiv Kovil.The analysis compared data from March 2015 to March 2020 with that from April 2020 to April 2025. The number of unique patients rose from 7,274 to 8,712 — an increase of nearly 20% — while patient visits climbed from 45,083 to 53,927.The trend is not confined to Mumbai. Data from Delhi-based diagnostic chain Mahajan Imaging and Labs showed an increase in metabolic and glucose screening among adults under 40 in 2025. Nearly 38% of those tested had abnormal fasting glucose levels.The need for earlier screening has also been flagged by clinical guidelines published in the journal Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews in 2022. Authored by a panel of endocrinologists, including Dr Anoop Misra from Delhi and Dr Shashank Joshi from Mumbai, the guidelines recommended lowering the age for diabetes screening in non-pregnant adults from 30 to 25 years, or even earlier in some cases. The recommendation was based on the increasingly early onset of type 2 diabetes among South Asians, particularly those who are overweight or obese.A doctor at a civic hospital in Mumbai said annual health check-ups offered under medical insurance policies had encouraged many corporate employees to undergo routine testing. These checks can flag elevated blood sugar and HbA1c levels, allowing people to seek medical advice before the condition progresses.The scale of India’s diabetes burden is reflected in the ICMR-INDIAB study, published in 2023. Conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, the study estimated that India had 101 million people with diabetes, 136 million with prediabetes and 315 million with hypertension in 2021. It put the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes at 11.4% and 15.3%, respectively.During the Covid pandemic, there was considerable debate over whether the novel coronavirus itself could trigger blood sugar imbalances. Some researchers suggested that the virus could affect the pancreas, leading to hyperglycaemia, or elevated blood sugar levels. However, doctors cautioned against equating a temporary rise in blood sugar during Covid with diabetes. A senior doctor said several patients had elevated sugar levels during their Covid illness, but these often returned to normal once their condition stabilised.Dr Kovil said there was no conclusive evidence that Covid itself had caused the rise in diabetes cases. Lifestyle changes during the pandemic, such as working from home, reduced physical activity and consequent weight gain, could have increased the risk of elevated blood sugar.
