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Regular Monitoring Boosts Health: Aditya Birla Study Reveals Improved Diabetes, BP, Obesity Control
- •A study by Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI) found that regular health monitoring significantly improves health outcomes, analyzing 2.1 million adult insured customers.
- •Among 5.2 lakh customers with trackable biomarker readings, 62% showed measurable improvement within 12 months, and 87% maintained or improved overall health.
- •Key biomarkers tracked included blood pressure, BMI, LDL cholesterol, and HbA1c, with improvements seen across all categories.
- •The study highlights health insurance's potential beyond claims, with ABHI using a "health-first" model incorporating assessments, digital engagement, and wellness programs.
- •ABHI's cohort showed better control rates for hypertension, diabetes, and obesity compared to NFHS-5 benchmarks, though methodologies differ and the dataset is not nationally representative.
Key Questions Answered
The study analysed records for 2.1 million adult insured customers between December 2023 and December 2025, tracking biomarkers over time. Among 5.2 lakh customers with at least two tracked sets of biomarker readings, 62 percent showed measurable biomarker improvement within 12 months, and 87 percent either maintained or improved their overall health status. Individual biomarker improvements included 34 percent in BMI or obesity, 33 percent in HbA1c, 32 percent in blood pressure, and 17 percent in cholesterol.
The study compared its insured cohort with National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) benchmarks and found notable differences. Hypertension control reached 32 percent in the cohort compared to 24 percent in NFHS-5, while diabetes control stood at 33 percent versus 15 percent, and overweight or obesity control was 34 percent compared to 24 percent. However, the report cautions that the two datasets use different methodologies, as NFHS indicators rely on self-reported or field-measured data, whereas ABHI uses self-entered or app-measured biomarkers and laboratory integrations.
The insurer's system combines biomarker information with lifestyle and wearable data to classify customers into high-, medium-, and low-risk groups. The study noted that health risks are not static, observing that 37 percent of customers initially classified as high risk moved into the medium- or low-risk category within a year. ABHI utilizes its health-first model, which incorporates regular health assessments, digital engagement, wellness programmes, and health coaching to encourage customers to monitor and improve their wellbeing.
