New Delhi: A government report has revealed alarming trends in child health, noting that more than one-third of Indian children aged 5–9 years may have high triglycerides, a type of blood fat that raises the risk of heart disease later in life.
The condition was found to be most prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and several north-eastern states.
According to the estimates, the highest prevalence was recorded in West Bengal (67 per cent), followed by Sikkim (64 per cent), Assam (57 per cent), Nagaland (55 per cent), and Jammu and Kashmir (50 per cent). The lowest rates were observed in Kerala (16.6 per cent) and Maharashtra (19.1 per cent).
The report also said that more than 16 per cent of adolescents in India have high triglycerides, while about five per cent were classified as hypertensive. Delhi recorded the highest proportion of hypertensive adolescents at 10 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh (8.6 per cent), Manipur (8.3 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (7 per cent).
On neonatal health, the findings showed that prematurity and low birth weight were the leading causes of mortality in the first 29 days of life, accounting for an estimated 48 per cent of neonatal deaths nationwide.
