From hunger to excess: We must adapt to this big economic shift

Let's act with the same resolve that conquered hunger to create an economy defined not just by prosperity but by public health

- V. ANANTHA NAGESWARAN & RUCHIR AGARWAL

For decades, India fought one great battle— hunger.

We built ration shops, expanded food programmes and ensured no child went to bed hungry. Those efforts worked. In one generation, poverty at the $3-a-day line has plunged from nearly half the population in 2004 to below 5% today. Millions of families that once struggled for daily calories now have full plates. But victory over scarcity has brought a new problem. As India has grown richer, a different epidemic has quietly spread—obesity. Far more Indians today fall ill or die from overeating and inactivity than from hunger. What was once a symbol of prosperity has become a threat to health, productivity and growth.

In just a few decades, India has moved from scarcity to plenty. Food is cheaper, work is less physical and daily life has become easier. Yet our bodies haven’t kept pace. The same instincts that once helped us survive famine now push us towards over-consumption. The comforts we worked so hard to achieve are now quietly harming us. This is a prosperity trap, where progress begins to turn against itself.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines obesity as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. That standard fits Europeans, not Indians. For us, the danger starts much earlier. At a BMI of just 24, Indians face the same risk of diabetes and heart disease as Europeans do at 30. At the same weight, we have 5-10 percentage points more body fat and less muscle, much of it around vital organs. So a person who appears ‘normal’ on paper may already be at serious risk.