MORE THAN JUST A BABY FAT

Childhood obesity, especially in early years, is emerging as India's new public health concern, driven by screens, snacks and sleep loss. The fix, experts insist, begins with families, not pharmacies

- SONALI ACHARJEE

Aarav's parents always thought their four-year-old was just bigger than other kids.

But when he started running out of breath after a few minutes of play in their Bengaluru apartment complex, they took him to a doctor. When his weight was checked, the scale read 28 kg, some 12 kg more than what's ideal for his age and height. The doctor also found elevated fasting insulin and early signs of metabolic stress. “We thought he was just a healthy eater,” says his father Rohan Menon, who works in IT. “I never thought obesity could become a medical emergency at this age.”

Aarav's story might seem unusual, but it mirrors a quiet epidemic unfolding across Indian homes. For a country long preoccupied with malnutrition, the opposite end of the spectrum—overnutrition—is growing with startling speed. Since children gain both height and weight as they grow, what matters most is the trajectory—a sudden jump in weight without a matching increase in height can be an early red flag. According to the World Health Organization's Child Growth Standards, a child under five is considered overweight when their weight-for-height/length score is more than two steps (+2 standard deviation, or SD) above the healthy median for their age group and gender, and obese when it's three steps (+3 SD) higher. That's why tracking a child's growth with a paediatrician is more reliable than judging by appearance or family perception.