India’s obesity crisis: Over 44 crore people expected to be overweight by 2050, second after China

India could have over 440 million obese and overweight people by 2050, the second highest in the world after China, while the US, Brazil and Nigeria will rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The study expects that nearly 60 per cent of adults and a third of all children across the globe will be overweight or obese by 2050 if the governments do not take any action, a study said.

It is estimated that nearly 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years, while a121 per cent increase in obesity among children and adolescents is expected. Nearly a third of the obese young population will reside majorly in North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean by 2050.

More than half of the overweight or obese adults in the world live in just eight countries, including China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Egypt.

In 2021, these eight countries had more than half of the world’s obese people, including India (108 million), China (402 million), the USA (172 million), Brazil (88 million), Russia (71 million), Mexico (58 million), Indonesia (52 million), and Egypt (41 million).

The number of obese people across the globe rose from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021, according to a study by the Lancet Medical Journal, which used data from 204 countries to highlight what it described as one of the great health challenges of the century.

“The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,” Emmanuela Gakidou, from the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said in a statement.

Strong government action is required

The study urged governments across the world to take action to control obesity.

“Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems,” she said.

Governments must also adopt strategies”that improve people’s nutrition, physical activity and living environments, whether it’s too much-processed food or not enough parks,” Kerr said.

The possible reasons for the rising obesity epidemic are poor diet and sedentary lifestyles. However, the underlying causes “remain in doubt,” Thorkild Sorensen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, told AFP.

PM Narendra Modi’s initiative against obesity

 PM Narendra Modi highlighted the growing problem of obesity in India, especially among children during the 119th Episode of Mann Ki Baat and urged citizens to make small but significant changes in their daily diets.

Taking to X, the prime minister wrote, “I would like to nominate the following people to help strengthen the fight against obesity and spread awareness on reducing edible oil consumption in food. I also request them to nominate 10 people each so that our movement gets bigger.”

The prime minister has nominated Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Bhojpuri singer-actor Nirahua, shooting champion Manu Bhaker, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, actor R Madhavan, singer Shreya Ghoshal, actor Mohanlal and author-politician Sudha Murty.