Report: One in 10 obese children to be from India by 2030

Undeniably, childhood obesity is a troubling issue in many countries and India is no exception. According to a new report released by the World Obesity Federation, India is expected to have over 27 million children with obesity by 2030.

In other words, this represents over half of the children with obesity in the region, and one in 10 of all obese children globally.

According to the report, by 2030, India will have the prevalence of approximately 10.81% childhood obesity among 5-9 year age group, and around 6.23% prevalence of obesity among teenagers in the age group of 10-19 years.

“Obesity is the core associate for pre-mature mortality and has become the true silent pandemic. It is no longer a symptom but a disease. Around 39% of world’s adult population is over-weight and it is expected that 20%of world’s population will be classified as true obese, by 2025,” said Dr. Sanjeev Bagai, a senior pediatrician and chairman of Nephron Clinics.

“The incidence of obesity in children has increased 600% to 700% from 1975 to 2016. The incidence of pediatrics over-weight cases is approximately 25% in urban India. Childhood obesity is now called an obesogenic environment. A fat and cuddly child is no longer a healthy child. Fatter is not better, it is for worse,” Bagai added.