| On January 21, 2026, Indiaspora hosted a their health series webinar, Sweet Truths: Understanding Diabetes in South Asian Communities.
The webinar opened with a blunt reality. If you’re South Asian, you’ve probably noticed diabetes runs in your family like a rite of passage. Your grandparents had it. Perhaps your parents have it. And now you and your siblings are getting diagnosed in their 30s or 40s. And according to a landmark 2024 Lancet study, India now has 100 million people with diabetes and it’s rising. The webinar’s core warning was that you often can’t see risk in South Asians. Evidence shows South Asians develop type 2 diabetes at lower BMI and at younger ages than White European populations, which makes weight-only assumptions dangerously misleading.
The conversation opened with Dr. Vivek Murthy (former U.S. Surgeon General) and was moderated by Dr. Nalini Saligram of Arogya World. The webinar had an expert panel of Dr. K.M. Venkat Narayan (Emory), Dr. Ravi Chandran Ramaswami (NYU), and Dr. Alka Kanaya (UCSF, MASALA Study).
Here’s how the panel explained the double whammy risk of diabetes in South Asians –
1) Biology
The panel highlighted three biological patterns researchers keep seeing. First, lower insulin secretion. Second, lower lean muscle mass. Third, a greater tendency to store fat in organs like the liver. All of these can raise glucose even when someone looks slim. This aligns with a growing body of research calling for South Asian specific diabetes models rather than borrowed assumptions.
2) Modern environments
Dr. Vivek Murthy and Dr. Alka Kanaya pointed to Indian environment and the everyday drivers of refined carbs, ultra-processed foods, late-night eating, stress, and poor sleep adding to diabetes risks.
Dr. Alka Kanaya added an especially practical point for diabetes screening. She suggested that fasting glucose can be a strong first-line test in South Asians, since the more common HbA1c test can be affected by factors like anaemia / haemoglobin variants in South Asians. The recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health: Southeast Asia also points out that the HbA1c test can be unreliable for many South Asain people.
On diabetes prevention, the panel anchored to what works broadly that lifestyle change (diet + physical activity) can cut diabetes incidence by ~58% in high-quality randomized studies. But they also noted a tougher truth that similar interventions in India have shown more modest reductions like the Indian Diabetes Prevention Programme).
But there’s hope. The panel suggested what actually works.
- Screen earlier and regularly. If you’re South Asian and don’t wait for it only when you are overweight. Consider annual fasting glucose (and follow-up testing as needed).
- Target refined carbs first. Reduce white rice, white bread, sugary snacks.
- Exercise and build muscle.
- Eat earlier when you can. The panel framed late-night eating as a common cultural trap that keeps insulin demand high.
- Be cautious with GLP-1 drugs. While revolutionary, these medications cause 40% muscle loss alongside fat loss. When you regain weight you regain mostly fat, worsening the low-muscle problem.
- Find accountability partners. Vivek Murthy shared his personal approach, “Two South Asian friends and I made a pact to make changes together. These changes, because we did them together, we’ve sustained for years.”
Dr. Nalini Saligram summarised the conversation, “Diabetes is not inevitable. But we have to understand our own biology and act accordingly.” It means we need earlier and more tailored prevention.
The bigger picture
Dr. Venkat Narayan’s closing message echoed the Copenhagen Declaration theme to reduce the gap between where diabetes burden is highest and where research and resources concentrate, and scale proven care models using tools like mobile tech and AI.
That’s also where public health organizations like Arogya World focus by reaching close to 30 million through 2025 via large-scale diabetes prevention programs.
View the recording of webinar here. |
