Abstract
Global incidence of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes mellitus has been rising over years due to changed lifestyle and aging population. Recognizing gender as a biological variable is essential for deepening our understanding of disease mechanisms and their broader societal impact. To explore gender-specific variations in the correlations among hypertension, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. This study, conducted in January 2025, utilized secondary data from India’s fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), carried out in collaboration with Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). NFHS-5 collected data from 636,699 systematically selected households, covering 724,115 women and 101,839 men. Key variables analyzed included blood pressure, random blood glucose and body mass index alongside demographic data. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.022) and hypertension (p = 0.002) was significantly higher among males, and obesity was higher in females (p = 0.001). In women, a moderate positive correlation was noted between diabetes and obesity (r = 0.641, p 0.05). Gender differences are evident in prevalence and in the interrelationship between diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Notably, correlation between hypertension and diabetes mellitus was not significant in male subgroup, emphasizing the importance of gender- specific analyses in public health research.
Keywords: Hypertension, Obesity, Diabetes mellitus, Gender differences, Correlation between non-communicable diseases