New Delhi, Jan 29 || Obesity is rising at an alarming rate and is today a major public health challenge in India, said Economic Survey for 2025-26 on Thursday.
According to the Economic Survey, tabled in the Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the concerning trend was driven by unhealthy diets, lifestyle changes, including sedentary lifestyles, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and environmental factors.
“It is affecting people across all age groups and increasing the risk of NCDs such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, impacting both urban and rural populations,” the Survey said.
Citing data from the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the Survey said 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, 4.0 per cent are obese. 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.
As per estimates, more than 3.3 crore children in India were obese in 2020, and it is projected to reach 8.3 crore children by 2035.