World Obesity Atlas 2026:
The World Obesity Atlas 2026, released by the World Obesity Federation on World Obesity Day (4th March), reveals alarming statistics for India, highlighting a growing public health emergency.
Key Findings of the World Obesity Atlas 2026:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that poses health risks, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or above classified as overweight and 30 or above as obese.
Key Findings:
- China, India, and the United States each have over 10 million children living with obesity, with China leading (62 million high Body Mass Index (BMI), 33 million obesity), followed by India, and the US (27 million high BMI, 13 million obesity cases). Among women (15-49 years), 13.4% have high BMI and 4.2% live with Type 2 diabetes.
- Over 200 million school-age children aged 5 to 19 living with overweight and obesity are concentrated in just 10 countries across the world.
- Nearly 15 million children aged five to nine years and more than 26 million children aged 10 to 19 years in India were overweight or obese in 2025.
- It positions India as having the 2nd-highest number of children with high BMI (41 million).
- The number of Indian children aged 5 to 19 with disease indicators linked to high BMI is projected to rise substantially from 2025 to 2040.
Health Consequences (2025-2040): Cases of BMI-related hypertension are expected to increase from 2.99 million to 4.21 million, hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) from 1.39 million to 1.91 million, high triglycerides from 4.39 million to 6.07 million, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) from 8.39 million to 11.88 million. - Key contributors include 74% of adolescents (11-17 years) failing to meet physical activity recommendations, only 35.5% receiving school meals, 32.6% of infants (1-5 months) experiencing sub-optimal breastfeeding, and children aged 6-10 consuming up to 50 ml of sugary drinks daily..
- The world is set to miss the 2025 target to halve childhood obesity rise (now extended to 2030). Currently, 20.7% of children aged 5-19 worldwide are overweight/obese (up from 14.6% in 2010), with projections of 507 million affected children by 2040 and over 57 million showing early cardiovascular disease signs.
