Obesity is an alarmingly increasing public health issue in India and around the world. A recent Lancet data has revealed that about 450 million adults in India are expected to be overweight or obese in 2050.
Weight gain varies widely across the globe. In 2021, more than half of the world's adults with overweight or obesity were living in just eight countries including India with 180 million people and the rest were China (402 million), USA (172 million), Brazil (88 million), Russia (71 million), Mexico (58 million), Indonesia (52 million) and Egypt (41 million).
The data from the Lancet study suggest that these numbers are likely to rapidly accelerate in the coming years.
The shift towards a predominance of obesity (as opposed to just being overweight) is anticipated to be particularly significant in various Oceanic nations (such as the Cook Islands, Nauru, and Tonga), where obesity rates are projected to reach 60-70% by the year 2050.
This trend is also expected to impact densely populated nations like Nigeria (18.1 million), India (26.4 million), Brazil (17.8 million), China (35.2 million), and the USA (22.1 million), where the incidence of obesity among young individuals is predicted to rise dramatically.
Obesity epidemic: The need for urgent policy reform and actions
The Lancet data revealed that without urgent policy reform and action, over half the world's adult population (3.8 billion) and a third of all children and adolescents (746 million) are forecast to be living overweight or obese by 2050. This can significantly increase the risk of premature disease and death at local, national and global levels.
India is one of the nations that are expected to have the largest number of overweight and obese adults by 2050 with 450 million people. Therefore, there's an urgent to address obesity as a public health crisis with a multifaceted approach. Both individual as well as societal efforts are imperative to combat obesity.
Risk factors and complications
"Asians, especially Indians are prone to obesity due to their thrifty genes. These thrifty genes increase the body's efficiency in storing food as fat, making it easier to gain weight. Thrifty genes also increase the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes," told Dr. Pradeep Chowbey, Chairman - Max Institute of Laparoscopic, Endoscopic, Bariatric Surgery & Allied Surgical Specialities to DoctorNDTV.
"Other than genes, many other factors increase the risk of obesity in Indians including low levels of physical activity, lesser intake of nutritious food, more dependency on fast foods and others," he added.
Urbanization, increased consumption of high-calorie foods, and a decline in physical activity are notable contributors.
Obesity is a common risk factor for several diseases. The expert highlights that "diabetes, fatty liver, heart disease and even cancer are a few outcomes of obesity."
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged the country to draw focus on the obesity epidemic and mentioned that obesity cases have doubled in the last few years and there is an urgent need to focus on the prevalence of obesity in India.
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