India, which so far was fighting undernutrition mainly, now is rapidly developing and mounting an epidemic of obesity posing a Herculean challenge to its public health infrastructure and economy. What was previously thought to be limited to rich urban communities now has crossed across different socio-economic groups and is now extending to adults as well as, more alarmingly, increasing numbers of children.
This global disorder is not cosmetic, it is a dangerous gateway to a snowballing of NCDs like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, particular cancers, and musculoskeletal diseases. Years of active life on the heels of a normal Indian diet are being swiftly taken over by fast food, sedentary lifestyle, and increased screen time. This abrupt flip similarly acknowledges a desperate requirement to rethink our public health policy, careening headlong in the wrong direction from therapeutic medicine to an activist, aggressive form of preventive treatment.
The Alarming Prevalence of Obesity
The figures paint a grim picture, one that indicates the size of the country’s obesity crisis. Recent statistics also establish that nearly 1 out of every 4 Indian urban adults is either overweight or obese, with the trend continuing to rise even in semi-urban and rural India. Research estimates that India will have one of the largest numbers of obese citizens in the world by 2030. The most alarming of these trends is childhood obesity, where up to 15-20% of school children in urban cities are overweight or obese.
Some of the reasons behind this shocking surge include greater exposure to calorie-rich, poor-quality processed foods, lesser physical activity due to technology and urbanization, and low public awareness level about balanced diets and the need for exercise.
Proactive Healthcare as the Solution
Combating India’s obesity crisis requires a change of paradigm towards integrative preventive healthcare approaches, instead of depending on curative interventions which are several folds costlier and reactive in nature. This will include a multi-faceted approach through public health education, policy changes, and an affordable health infrastructure. Social education campaigns need to awaken citizens to healthy nutrition, the value of physical exercise, and the risk of obesity from childhood itself.
Policy interventions would also involve stern control over children’s advertisements of junk food, the acceptability of food product nutritional labeling, and physical exercise as an integral and mandatory school subject. Prevention of obesity-linked NCDs at an early stage through periodic health check-ups among the high-risk population can be prevented. A strong thrust towards preventive medicine not only will decrease the humongous burden on India’s health system but also get a healthy, productive population ready, making the future health of the country secure.
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