Noida: Nearly four in every 10 men aged 15 and above in Noida use tobacco, the highest among four NCR cities, including Delhi, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad, the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) has found.According to NFHS-6 (2023–24), tobacco use among men in Noida increased from 29.7% in NFHS-5 (2019–21) to 38.7%, a jump of nine percentage points. Noida also recorded a rise in alcohol consumption from 17.3% to 21.8%, the sharpest increase among the four cities, in the corresponding period.In Ghaziabad, tobacco use among men rose from 22.3% to 28.4% and alcohol consumption from 13.4% to 16.9% during the period.In contrast, Delhi saw a decline in tobacco use among men during the period from 26.2% to 21.3%. Alcohol consumption also went down from 21.6% to 16.1%. Gurgaon also recorded a substantial decline in tobacco use, from 32.6% to 23.7%, although alcohol consumption increased marginally from 18.5% to 19.9%.The survey revealed that the number of women consuming tobacco in Ghaziabad nearly doubled from 1.7% to 3.3% in the three years. The numbers fell in all three other cities — Noida recorded a decline from 3% to 2.3%, Gurgaon from 2.9% to 2.3%, and Delhi from 2.2% to 1.7%.Gurgaon recorded a sharp 17.6 percentage-point jump in overweight and obesity among women. The data show that the number of women in the 15 to 49 years age bracket with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above went up from 24.3% to 41.9% during the period. Delhi also recorded a marginal increase, from 41.4% to 42.7%.In contrast, Noida and Ghaziabad recorded declines in overweight and obesity among women. In Noida, the number of women with obesity fell from 34.7% to 30.2%, and in Ghaziabad it came down to 38.7% from 43.7%.However, the decline in overweight and obesity numbers was accompanied by an increase in underweight prevalence among women in all four cities. In Ghaziabad, the proportion of women with a BMI below 18.5 rose from 11.1% to 16%, while Noida recorded a marginal increase from 15% to 16%. Gurgaon also recorded a rise in underweight women, from 9% to 14.1%, while Delhi’s figure increased from 10% to 12.4%.A BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m² is considered normal or healthy. A BMI below 18.5 is classified as underweight, 25-29.9 as overweight, and 30 or above as obese.The report also revealed contrasting trends in diabetes management across NCR. In Delhi, the number of men aged 15 and above with high or very high random blood sugar levels, or taking medication to control blood sugar, increased sharply from 14.1% to 22.2%. Among women, it rose from 12.2% to 19%.Ghaziabad recorded a sharper incidence among women, from 17.9% to 21.6%, compared with an increase from 20.2% to 20.8% among men. In Gurgaon, the proportion of men with high or very high random blood sugar levels, or taking medication to control blood sugar spikes, rose from 15.4% to 17.2%, while that among women dipped marginally from 13.5% to 13%.Noida was the only city where the high blood sugar indicators declined for both sexes. The prevalence among men fell from 17.2% to 13.6%, while among women it declined from 14.8% to 12.3%.The indicator includes adults with random blood sugar above 140 mg/dl or those taking medication to control it, and does not necessarily represent confirmed diabetes diagnoses.
