UNICEF report reveals alarming rise in childhood obesity across South Asia

India Today

According to UNICEF's 2025 Child Nutrition Report, for the first time, children and adolescents aged 5-19 worldwide are more likely to be obese than underweight, a trend mirrored in South Asia, including India.

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00:00Let's shift our focus to the health update on 5 live. We're looking at a historic shift

00:05this time in children's health. There was a time when malnutrition was one of the biggest concerns

00:11worldwide for children and adolescents. But with shifting health habits around the world for the

00:16first time, children and adolescents aged between 5 to 19 worldwide are more obese than they are

00:24underweight. Now, this is according to UNICEF's 2025, the child nutrition report that recently came

00:30out. In fact, South Asia too, including India, long associated with malnourishment and undernutrition

00:36is now facing the crisis of obesity. The reason? Consumption of highly processed foods, sugared

00:44beverages on the regular as well. In fact, the UNICEF report goes on to say that it's not about

00:48individual choices anymore, but it's about how these products are being marketed. So for the

00:54first time, there are more people and more kids, in fact, eating more than getting less

01:00food on the table. What exactly does this mean? Milan Sharma reports.

01:04Globally, one in every 10 children and a staggering 188 million are obese. In South Asia, while children

01:24being malnourished and underweight still remains higher overall, childhood obesity is rising sharply,

01:30especially in cities. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are all seeing more children choosing chips,

01:40soft drinks and instant food over traditional, healthier meals. The percentage of childhood obesity

01:47globally increased from 3% in 2000 to 8% in 2022 and further to 9.4% in 2024, according to UNICEF.

01:57The UN body adds that in absolute numbers, childhood obesity rose from 163 million in 2022 to 188 million

02:07in 2024. Since 2000, childhood obesity has more than tripled worldwide, while underweight children

02:14numbers have dropped. Experts say this double burden of malnutrition, hunger in some homes and obesity in

02:20others threatens both public health and economic growth.

02:26It is very common for schools to have small tuck shops that sell unhealthy fried foods or aerated sugar

02:34drinks in and around the vicinity. Where I am standing right now, you will see one such tuck shop selling

02:41fried foods and not 500 meters from this distance. There are scores of shops where aerated and sugar-filled

02:48drinks are freely available. It is easy accessibility to these unhealthy snacks that is leading to a rise

02:55in childhood obesity, is what the UNICEF report also points out.

03:04Doctors say children who are obese face higher risks of diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, fatty liver

03:11and heart disease at younger ages.

03:17Not only are children being exposed to a lot of food which is rich in fat, which has a lot of high sugar,

03:25and this is because of the trend of using ready-made food. Most of the parents nowadays, especially living in

03:34single units, are busy working in single units, are busy working and in their absence, children have access

03:39to online platforms where they can order food.

03:46UNICEF points to solutions already in motion in many countries, banning sugary drinks in schools,

03:52introducing warning labels on packaged food and restricting ads aimed at children.

03:56We should totally decrease the use of food which is ordered online. Besides that, we should encourage

04:09children for play. Of course, I know because of urbanization, the areas for play are limited,

04:15but parents can spend time with the children, take them for outdoor activities. A child at least should

04:21spend at least 60 minutes in outdoor activities and playing every day.

04:29The Indian government has recently imposed a GST of 40% on sugary drinks, packaged sugar-filled foods

04:36and aerated drinks. But will the rise in prices deter children and parents to keep unhealthy food at bay?

04:44With Milind Sharma, Bureau Report, India Today.

04:56All right, let's bring in our guests now on this issue. We have Dr. Nihar Parikh,

05:00a pediatrician director of the Chairs Child Care with us. And also joining us is Poonam Reja. She's

05:05the executive director of the Population Foundation of India. Thank you both for joining us.

05:08Dr. Parikh, let me give you the first word. Obesity among school children from 5 to 19 has tripled.

05:16It was 3%. It's gone to 9.4% in just a matter of 20 years. Now, before I get into the causes,

05:24do you think parents in India or people in general even understand what an obese kid is? Or we are still

05:32calling it Khaate-Pite-Ghar-ka-Bacha? So I think there is a shift of mindset of parents now of school

05:40going children. But the shift comes because they don't, they get complaints from school where the

05:47child is not, you know, being able to cope up with the day-to-day activities. The child is not able to

05:52perform in sports indoors and outdoors. And then the parents, when it comes to peer pressure,

05:58bring down the entire thing to the weight of the child, forgetting that they were the primary cause

06:05who led to this. So yes, there is tremendous amount of awareness. There's a lot of data available.

06:10Plus, but I still feel the driving force today for a parent to change their mindset from a Khaate-Pite-Ghar-ka

06:17to a worrisome obese child is peer pressure and the inability of the child to compete and match the peers.

06:24compete and match the peers. That's interesting. Poonamudraja, what do you think about that?

06:31So, you know, while in India, the new warning by UNICEF

06:38is, is resonates, but in India, the challenge is different from what we see in the problems that,

06:47because in India, the problem is coexisting obesity along with malnutrition and undernutrition.

06:56Look at India where 36% of the children are stunted as per NFHS-5, 19% of children are wasted,

07:078% of children are severely wasted. And at the same time, overweight is sure rising. Overweight amongst

07:17young people is, I believe, more a middle class phenomenon and urban cities than in rural areas.

07:25And it is with, you know, people's incomes going up where they not only overfeed the kids, but they

07:35purchase junk food, which they are not aware. I believe they are not totally aware of what junk food does.

07:45And secondly, let's remember in India, we already have a problem where so much of our food is unhealthy.

07:56You know, I heard government was going to put warnings on samosas and jalebi, but you know,

08:05we have very high fattening food in India. And that's why diabetes and we consume a lot of sugar,

08:13we consume a lot of carbohydrates, which is, which help and most worrying is that this is a phenomena.

08:22In India, we also have 57% women in India who are anemic, 67% children are anemic, and women in

08:34girls are different.

08:35Ma'am, you bring up, you bring up very important points from an India perspective,

08:40which is why I want to bring in those India figures again. And Dr. Parekh, come in on this one.

08:44The overweight percentage or obese percentage is gradually rising with the years. You see 1.6%

08:54from zero to four goes up to 4.8% by 10 to 19. Typically, the teenagers, right? Typically,

09:02the time where the kid is beginning to tell parents, listen, I know what I want to have.

09:06Typically, the kind time when parents, when kids are telling parents, you know, everybody has it.

09:14So, is that something that we need to watch out for?

09:18That's the actually the root cause. So, the food culture comes a lot with gratification and

09:24gratification becomes an integral part of a child's behavior mindset where the child is looking to feel

09:31happy all the time. The parents are busy. Parents are looking for a quick fix to keep the child happy

09:37so the child doesn't hamper their daily schedule. Now, this entire thing comes also hand in glove

09:43with a tremendous amount of marketing strategies used by food that looks so good and so hard to resist.

09:50When it comes to apps and phones, increased screen time is number two. Kids feel three times more hungry

09:57in front of a screen than when sitting on a table. Quick delivery apps where, you know, as the children

10:04grow and have access to phones by simply a press of a button, there is food delivered of their choice

10:10within 10 minutes, whether it's two in the morning or at three in the afternoon. So, all these things

10:17put together leading to only one thing is, I want to be happy as a child. I want this as a child.

10:25And when the parents stop them, the first finger is pointed towards the parents, rightly so that if

10:31you're doing it, if you're eating in front of the screen, if you're ordering in the middle of the

10:35night, why can't I? So, I think the parents need to first practice what they preach.

10:41Yeah. You know, so many questions come to mind, but I just want to quickly give the last word

10:46to Puna Mutreja as well. Ma'am, you're right that India has a dual problem. But I think it's also come

10:53with the rise of the middle class. I think there's a generation and I, my heart goes out to parents

10:59who are thinking that, you know, I did not have this comfort and which is why I want to provide it

11:03to my kid. Or perhaps, and they don't understand that their way of growing up, the food they ate or

11:09even the entire day's routine that they have is drastically different from what kids have today.

11:15How do we get that mindset shift? Because I don't think any parent wants to harm their

11:22kid deliberately, right? It's just that they are not aware. How do we bring that awareness?

11:26We need awareness campaigns. We need awareness campaigns that are persuasive, not IIC. We

11:35need entertainment education. We need changing social norms around what is good for the child

11:43in terms of health. We have a broken food system, I'd like to say. Lack of affordable,

11:50diverse, micro-nutrient foods. Absolutely. We need to support the market. We cannot,

11:57you know, strengthening the portion 2.0, Abhyaan. We need very different food. We cannot give them so

12:06much carbs. And, you know, we have to go back to coarse cereals and diets. Even look at our ration.

12:16We give rice and wheat. We give rice and wheat. Let's start giving some healthy, rough, traditional...

12:24Whole wheat. Whole wheat.

12:28But it has to be like Abhyaan. It has to be a mission. And we, I mean, at the highest level,

12:35political leadership, but also the diets are shaped by what we shop. So we have to shape our

12:46broken system, which includes what is available. You know, I'm so glad you brought that up, ma'am,

12:51because this problem, the problem of obesity, not just in adults, but even in kids cannot be

12:56solved by one doctor. It needs systemic changes. It needs the government to step in. Yes, you know,

13:02I am a mum. I have stopped eating sugar because I don't allow my kid to have it. But I'm not sure how

13:07many kids actually, parents actually manage that. And that's why you're right that there needs to be

13:12government reform. There needs to be government awakening. The latest GST figures were encouraging.

13:17We need more of that. We need cut down on oil. We need cut down on packaged food altogether. And we

13:23need labels. Labels which tell us just the amount of absolute chemical that we are putting into our

13:29body. So thank you both for joining us. Like I said, it needs both. We need solutions in the kitchen,

13:34but we also need solutions coming out of the parliament if we really want to fight obesity in the long run.

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