Diabetes mellitus and hypertension in rural‐rural migrants in South India

We conducted a survey to detect diabetes and hypertension in 4 villages and 5 adjacent camps in Raichur district, Karnataka state in South India where two heterogenous populations co‐exist; the indigenous population and migrants who originally came from villages in Andhra Pradesh state. The staple diets of these populations differ: migrants consume rice while the indigenous populations consume millets. Diabetes was confirmed by blood glucose testing. Blood pressure was recorded using a mercury sphygmomanometer. In adults above the age of 30 years the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was significantly higher in the rural‐rural migrants (9.1%; n = 529) than the indigenous population (2.2%; n = 765), (x ² = 30.8; P < 0.001). Hypertension was diagnosed in 29.1% of the migrants and 13.9% of the indigenous population (x ² = 45.3, P < 0.001). Obesity was found more frequently in the migrants. It was concluded that i) transrural migrant populations have a high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension and ii) the significant inter‐population differences may be due to the higher frequency of risk factors in the migrants whose dietary habits also differed from the indigenous populations.

Key words:

• Age
• alcohol
• body mass index
• blood pressure
• diabetes mellitus
• diet
• hypertension
• India
• migration
• smoking
• stress