Mumbai: Even as data from the recently updated National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) point to rising obesity levels in India, the experience of a Mumbai hospital highlights the growing concern among children and teenagers.Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Parel has recorded nearly 300 cases of childhood obesity over the past three years, averaging around 100 new cases a year. The hospital operates under a joint-venture funding and trust agreement with the state govt and the BMC, and caters to a mixed population including lower- and middle-income groups.India only ranks behind China and the United States in obesity rates. The NFHS-6 survey found that 30.7% of women aged 15–49 were overweight or obese in 2023–24, up from 24% in NFHS-5, conducted in 2019–21. Among Indian men, obesity and overweight levels increased from 22.9% in NFHS-5 to 27.3% in NFHS-6.Experts blame changing food habits, greater consumption of sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods, reduced outdoor activity and prolonged screen time for unhealthy weight gain among children.“This growing problem is clearly visible in our clinical practice,” said Dr Sudha Rao, medical director and paediatric endocrinologist at Wadia Hospital. The hospital’s paediatric endocrinology department has seen nearly 300 children and adolescents with obesity in three years. More than 80% of these cases were associated with lifestyle factors, without an identifiable hormonal or genetic cause, she said.Parents usually assume that excess weight in a child is due to a hormonal problem. “Most childhood obesity is not caused by an endocrine disorder,” Rao said. Obesity can lead to insulin resistance, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, fatty liver disease, sleep apnoea and joint problems. In adolescent girls, excess weight and insulin resistance may also contribute to irregular or absent periods and features of polycystic ovary syndrome.“Although childhood obesity in India is more prevalent among children from higher-income and urban backgrounds, there has been a disproportionate increase in obesity rates in rural and urban low-income populations in recent times,” according to a review of 21 studies on childhood obesity published in the peer-reviewed ‘Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health’ journal.Doctors caution against strict dieting or blaming children for their weight. “Families should instead focus on home-cooked meals, fruits and vegetables, limiting sugary drinks and packaged snacks, encouraging daily physical activity, reducing recreational screen time and ensuring adequate sleep,” she added.
