Young people in rural central India carry a heavier load of preventable disease risks than their age might suggest, according to a baseline cross-sectional survey of 12,000 participants aged 10 to 30 conducted as part of the V-CaN trial. The assessment, drawn by simple random sampling from a Health and Demographic Surveillance System sampling frame, measured behavioural, anthropometric and biochemical risk factors for non-communicable diseases and found a substantial burden of smokeless tobacco use, inadequate physical activity and psychological distress across adolescence and early adulthood.
The numbers are striking for a population so young. Smokeless tobacco use stood at 15.3 percent, while smoking was rare at 0.3 percent and alcohol consumption at 1.8 percent. Inadequate physical activity affected 32.4 percent of participants. Overweight and obesity were recorded at 8.1 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. On the psychological side, 74.0 percent of respondents reported moderate stress, 4.5 percent reported high stress, 16.0 percent reported anxiety and 27.5 percent reported depression.
Dietary measurements added further detail. Mean daily salt consumption was 8.7 grams, with a standard deviation of 3.1 grams, and mean daily sugar consumption was 44.7 grams, with a standard deviation of 18.2 grams.
Biochemical markers were assessed in a subsample of 1,600 participants rather than the full cohort. Within that subsample, mean cholesterol levels were higher among participants aged 20 to 30, at 147.8 with a standard deviation of 33.9, compared with 130.0 and a standard deviation of 27.0 among adolescents.
Age, education, occupation, marital status, alcohol and smokeless tobacco use, stress, anxiety, depression and elevated blood pressure were all significantly associated with selected modifiable risk factors.
The V-CaN trial aims to develop, implement and evaluate a participatory health-promotion intervention that uses existing Village Health, Nutrition and Sanitation Committees, women’s self-help groups and schools to address modifiable non-communicable disease risk factors among young people.
Adolescence and early adulthood are widely recognised as critical periods for establishing health behaviours that influence the future burden of non-communicable diseases.
The authors argue that the findings demonstrate a substantial burden of modifiable risk factors among young people, particularly smokeless tobacco use, inadequate physical activity and psychological distress. They suggest that strengthening prevention, early screening and health-promotion interventions through existing community and educational platforms could support timely risk reduction and contribute to long-term non-communicable disease prevention. Because the data are cross-sectional, they capture associations at a single point in time and cannot establish causal direction; the trial’s intervention phase is intended to test whether community-based action can actually shift these risks.
Subject of Research: Prevalence and predictors of modifiable non-communicable disease risk factors among people aged 10–30 years in the V-CaN baseline survey in rural central India.
Article Title: Prevalence and predictors of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in individuals aged 10–30 years: Findings from baseline cross-sectional assessment of V-CaN
Article References: Kalantri, A., Joshi, M., Wanjari, D., Sharma, R., Mundra, A., Jakasania, A., Sathe, H., Siriah, S., Bahulekar, P., Raut, A., Maliye, C., Paradkar, R. J., Kumar, S., Gupta, S. S., & Garg, B. S. (2026). Prevalence and predictors of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in individuals aged 10–30 years: Findings from baseline cross-sectional assessment of V-CaN. PLOS Global Public Health, 6(10), e0005956. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0005956
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005956
Keywords: non-communicable diseases, smokeless tobacco, physical inactivity, psychological stress, adolescent health, young adults, cross-sectional survey, India, V-CaN trial, health promotion, VHNSCs, self-help groups
News Source: Ophelia Keating. (November 6, 2026). Smokeless tobacco, inactivity and stress weigh on young Indians in landmark 12,000-person survey. Scienmag.
