India ranks second globally in childhood obesity: study

SOCIAL – HEALTH

5 MARCH 2026

• Nearly 15 million children aged five to nine and more than 26 million children aged 10 to 19 in India were overweight or obese in 2025, according to the World Obesity Atlas, 2026 released on World Obesity Day, which falls on March 4.
• The World Obesity Federation, a global organisation focused on obesity, warned that the world was set to miss the 2025 global target to halve the rise in childhood obesity.
• Though the deadline is now being extended to 2030, most countries remain off track, and India is no exception, it said.
• Over 200 million school-age children aged five to 19 who are overweight and living with obesity are concentrated in just 10 countries across the world.
• By the end of 2025, eight countries were projected to have over 10 million children with high Body Mass Index (BMI).
• China, India and the United States each had over 10 million children living with obesity.
• India stood second only to China in the number of children with high BMI (41 million high BMI; 14 million obesity).
• China led the two categories with 62 million children with high BMI and 33 million with only obesity.
• The U.S. had 27 million children with high BMI and 13 million with obesity.
• It noted that 74% of adolescents aged 11 to 17 failed to meet recommended physical activity levels, while only 35.5% of school-age children (primary and secondary) receive school meals.
• Nearly 32.6% of infants aged one to five months experience sub-optimal breastfeeding.
• It has called for strong action to reverse current trends, including taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages and restrictions on marketing to children.