New Delhi, June 7 -- The most important lesson of the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is that development does not eliminate challenges; it transforms them. About 20 years ago, India's public health challenge was one of exclusion.

Not enough women had bank accounts. Not enough households had health insurance. There were too many undernourished women. Much of the population was beyond the reach of maternal health services. Many of those deficits are now receding.

But a new crisis of obesity, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases is sweeping through village and city alike.

Recently released NFHS data for 2023-24 suggests that India has experienced one developmental transition and is in the midst of another. The first revoluti...