Type-2 diabetes that normally afflicts older adults is striking young Indians and it’s striking them harder. Though young people with type-2 diabetes do not need insulin to survive, they are at greater risk of life-threatening complications, such as kidney damage and heart disease, than people with insulin-dependent diabetes.
One in every four (25.3%) people under 25 with diabetes in India has adult-onset type-2 diabetes, which, by definition, should strike only older adults with a family history of diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diets and inactivity, data from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR’s) youth diabetes registry shows.

Type-2 diabetes that normally afflicts older adults is striking young Indians and it’s striking them harder. Though young people with type-2 diabetes do not need insulin to survive, they are at greater risk of life-threatening complications, such as kidney damage and heart disease, than people with insulin-dependent diabetes.
One in every four (25.3%) people under 25 with diabetes in India has adult-onset type-2 diabetes, which, by definition, should strike only older adults with a family history of diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diets and inactivity, data from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR’s) youth diabetes registry shows.