New Delhi: Obesity is rising at an alarming rate and is today a major public health challenge in India, said the Economic Survey as it emphasised focusing on the intake of the right nutrition in their diets and treating dietary reforms as a public health priority.
Driven by unhealthy diets, lifestyle changes, including sedentary lifestyles, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and environmental factors, obesity is affecting people across all age groups and increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, impacting both urban and rural populations, said the Survey.
The 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports that 24 per cent of Indian women and 23 per cent of Indian men are overweight or obese.
Among women aged 15-49 years, 6.4 per cent are obese, and among men, 4 per cent are obese, the report said.
More troubling still, the prevalence of excess weight among children under five has risen from 2.1 per cent in 2015-16 to 3.4 per cent in 2019-21.
According to estimates, over 3.3 crore children in India were obese in 2020, and it is projected to reach 8.3 crore children by 2035, the survey report expressed concern.
India is one of the fastest-growing markets for UPF sales, the survey said, stating it grew by more than 150 per cent from 2009 to 2023.95. Retail sales of UPFs in India surged from USD 0.9 billion in 2006 to nearly USD 38 billion in 2019, a 40-fold rise.
“It is during the same period that obesity has nearly doubled in both men and women. This mirrors the global rise of obesity, parallel to dietary shifts,” the survey said.
The UPFs are displacing long-established dietary patterns, worsening diet quality and are associated with increased risk of multiple chronic diseases, the survey said, as it called for exploring a ban on their advertisements from morning to late night.
The survey has also called for restrictions on the marketing of infant and toddler milk and beverages.
It suggested a “front-of-pack nutrition labelling” of high-fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) food with a warning, restricting marketing to children, and ensuring that trade agreements do not undermine public health policy. Recognising obesity as a critical public health concern, the government has launched comprehensive, multi-pronged initiatives to prevent, manage and reduce obesity in the country, the survey said.
The interventions are strategically designed by multiple ministries to promote a holistic approach that integrates health, nutrition, physical activity, food safety, and lifestyle modifications (e.g., POSHAN Abhiyaan and Poshan 2.0, Fit India Movement, Khelo India, Eat Right India and ‘Aaj Se Thoda Kam’ campaign) and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, the School Health Programme, and Yoga promotion continue to advance the goal of a healthier, stronger and obesity-free India.
Eco Survey flags rising lifestyle diseases due to nutrition gap
Dietary reforms should be treated as a public health priority and hold a prominent place in initiatives for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCD), the Survey said.
Energy drinks, nutrient drinks, stress-relief formulations and weight-loss beverages, known as health supplements or nutraceuticals, are not equivalent to clinically validated therapies, it said, calling for awareness among consumers so that they make an informed choice.
The Survey noted that concerns of rising lifestyle diseases, rising burden of cancers, increasing antibiotic resistance, and falling general immunity levels have exacerbated as a consequence of nutritional deficiencies. “It is evident that nutrition plays a crucial role in addressing many of these concerns,” it said.