Vitamin B12 deficiency has quietly become a nutritional emergency in India — and recent evidence shows a worrying picture. A meta-analysis of 20 studies (≈18,750 participants) revealed that nearly half (51%) of Indians have inadequate B12 levels.
Who’s most affected?
The findings show vegetarians (65%), pregnant women (67%), and females (55%) bear the highest burden. Since vitamin B12 is mainly obtained from animal-based foods, India’s largely vegetarian diet, coupled with poor fortification practices, has made the population particularly vulnerable.
Why it matters
Deficiency can trigger anemia, neurological symptoms, developmental issues in pregnancy, and elevated homocysteine levels, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Alarmingly, awareness remains low — making it a “silent” public health concern.
What’s needed
Experts urge food fortification, routine screening, and supplementation programs, especially for women, children, and expectant mothers. Standardized testing and stronger data from diverse regions are also essential.
India’s fight against B12 deficiency needs collective attention — from policy makers to individuals.
Beyond fortification, targeted supplementation for high-risk groups, routine screening, and nutrition education on B12-rich foods are crucial. Promoting alternative sources like fortified plant-based products and training healthcare providers to detect and manage deficiencies can further reduce the burden.
Vitamin B12 is indeed a very essential vitamin required in certain metabolic process of our body. Thus its deficiency can cause varying symptoms, especially neurological ones, such as tingling numbness, loss of proprioception and vibration being some of them, being more problematic. Since it is also stored inn our liver for prolonged time, deficiency only manifests after 6-12 months of inadequate levels of the vitamin. Hence, early identification and treatment are of utmost importance. Food fortification becomes vital in such cases, especially for vegetarians who do not consume animal products- the main source of vitamin B12.
increasing awareness to the general public, along with regular monitoring and oral supplementation of vitamin B12 can help regulate deficiency of vitamin B12
That’s true. Beyond fortification and supplementation government or policy makers can also implement policies or initiatives as they did to tackle iodine deficiency.
Screening and supplementation program must be taken care of, mainly in rural areas where the statistics of malnourished persons are comparatively higher in number.
This is eye‑opening with about half of Indians reportedly having inadequate B12 levels, and particularly high rates among vegetarians, pregnant women and women in general, this really highlights an urgent public health issue. We need greater awareness, routine screening and food‑fortification efforts to tackle this ‘silent’ crisis.
Besides food fortification, vitamin B12 levels can effectively be achieved through natural dietary intake (especially animal and dairy-based foods), supplements, injections for deficiency, and by optimizing gut and overall digestive health.
Who’s most affected?
Why it matters
What’s needed
In your opinion, what else can be done other than food fortification?