Sharp rise of obesity among children aged under 5 in India, warns UNICEF

New Delhi: Obesity has now overtaken underweight as the more dominant form of malnutrition among school-age children and adolescents across the globe, a study has found. UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Report 2025 has also found that low and middle-income countries are experiencing the steepest rise in overweight in school-age children and adolescents. In India, there is a rapid surge in overweight and obesity among under-five children, with prevalence rising by 127% between 2005-06 to NFHS 5 2019-21.

The study found that globally, one in twenty children under 5 years of age, which account for 5% of the entire population of children, and one in five children and adolescents aged 5–19 years, which account for 20%, are overweight. Since 2000, the number of children aged 5–19 years who are overweight has doubled from 194 million to 391 million. In South Asia, where the lowest prevalence of overweight adolescents in 2000, the prevalence increased almost fivefold by 2022.

“Obesity accounts for a growing share of all overweight cases. In 2022, 42 per cent of all children and adolescents aged 5–19 years living with overweight had obesity (163 million out of 391 million), up from 30 per cent in 2000 (58 million out of 194 million),” the study found.

In India, citing NFHS data, the report states that the rise of obesity among adolescent children has been 125% – it rose from 2.4% to 5.4%. Among overweight children, it has been 288% (from 1.7% to 6.6%). In adults, the prevalence increased by 91% among women (from 12.6% to 24%) and 146% among men (9.3% to 22.9%), pointing to a nationwide health crisis. “India is expected to be home to over 27 million children and adolescents (5 to 19 years) living with obesity by 2030 and will account for 11% of the global burden,” the report states.

“With this high level of media exposure and easy access to unhealthy food, India is also following the same global trend with rapid rise in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. The country is beginning to face the triple burden of malnutrition — stunting & wasting, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity — often coexisting in the same family or even the same person. India has a unique opportunity to act now to prevent overweight and obesity in children,” Marie-Claude Desilets, Chief of Nutrition at UNICEF India said.

The study found that inexpensive ultraprocessed foods and the unethical practices of the industry had led to a surge in their consumption.

The UN Body has made a host of recommendations including the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions to protect and promote breastfeeding which includes digital marketing of breastmilk alternatives.

UNICEF has also called for comprehensive policies to improve the availability and affordability of locally produced nutritious foods for children and adolescents, as well as engaging young people in public policymaking on food. “Strengthen global and national data and surveillance systems to monitor food environments, diets and overweight among children and adolescents using standardized indicators and data collection methods,” it further recommends.