India’s waistline is expanding by the day. The National Family Health Survey 2019-21 had highlighted that one in every four men and women in India — 25% of its 1.4 billion population — is obese. The World Obesity Federation estimated that India’s annual increase in childhood obesity is the steepest in the world. Now, a new analysis published in The Lancet has made some worrying projections about India’s obesity problem. India, it says, will have the world’s highest number of overweight youth (15-24 age group) and the second-highest number of obese children and adolescents (5-14 years) in the next 25 years if the current trends continue unchecked.

Present generations seem to be gaining weight faster than previous ones. Just 198 million children and adolescents were obese only 35 years ago. The reasons behind the accelerating global epidemic of obesity are not hard to find. Numerous studies have flagged the inclination for unhealthy eating habits among youngsters, evident in the rise in consumption of ultra-processed food items. There is an argument that India and other low-income economies, with their bulging populations, improvement in per capita incomes, and weaker regulations, have been victims of this malaise. Another key factor is the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle: a report by the World Health Organization had found that half of India does not engage in sufficient physical activity. The lack of exercise has a gendered dimension. Women get less time for and access to exercising than men: overweight and obese women in India had outnumbered men in 2021. Obesity’s impact on public and economic health is substantial. The disease burden of obesity not only includes cardiovascular conditions and cancers but obesity itself is also recognised as a major non-communicable disease. In 2019, obesity was consuming 1% of India’s GDP: the percentage is expected to touch 2.5% by 2060. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched an anti-obesity drive to generate awareness. Such interventions are welcome. But care must be taken to ensure that government initiatives do not get away by putting the onus on the individual. The battle against obesity is a shared responsibility and stakeholders — the government, market players and citizens — must work together to make India fit again.