India's obesity burden is growing fastest in cities

Key points

• India seems to be struggling with both malnutrition and overnutrition.
• In less than a decade, obesity among adults has climbed sharply.
• The latest Family Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the NFHS-6, shows the share of overweight women rose from 21 per cent in 2015–16 to nearly 31 per cent in 2023–24. For men, it increased from 19 to around 27 per cent in the same period.
• The NFHS-6 shows that urban India is significantly more exposed to obesity than rural India.
• Among women in urban areas, 42.8 per cent are overweight — far above rural women at 25.5 per cent.