UNICEF Flags Rapid Increase in Obesity Affecting All Age Groups Across India

Obesity Now Surpasses Underweight as Top Child Malnutrition Form Worldwide

- MPOST BUREAU

India is experiencing a sharp surge in obesity across all age groups, fuelled by rising consumption of ultra-processed foods, declining physical activity, and prolonged screen time, experts from UNICEF India said on Thursday.

The warning comes alongside the release of UNICEF's Child Nutrition Global Report 2025, which revealed that, for the first time, obesity has overtaken underweight as the most common form of malnutrition among school-aged children and adolescents worldwide.

According to the report, one in ten children across the globe—around 188 million—are now living with obesity. The condition, once associated primarily with wealthier populations, is spreading rapidly in low- and middle-income countries, including India. In South Asia, overweight prevalence among children and teenagers aged 5–19 was the lowest globally in 2000. By 2022, however, rates in the region had risen nearly fivefold.

Data from India's National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) highlight the steep rise in obesity within the country. Among children under five, overweight prevalence grew by 127 per cent—from 1.5 per cent in 2005–06 to 3.4 per cent in 2019–21.

Among adolescents, the increase has been even more striking. Overweight and obesity rose by 125 per cent among girls (from 2.4 per cent to 5.4 per cent) and by 288 per cent among boys (from 1.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent) over the same period.

In adults, prevalence nearly doubled in women (12.6 per cent to 24.0 per cent) and more than doubled in men (9.3 per cent to 22.9 per cent).