Sub-optimal or poor nutrition is escalating diet related non communicable diseases (DR-NCDs) in India, putting at risk millions of children.
A country with the greatest number of malnourished children in the world, India is home to around 15 million obese children and 45 million who are stunted. At a public dialogue in Varanasi, senior members of major political parties came together to sound a clarion call for India to adopt front-of-pack labels (FOPL), an important and timely policy fix to address the country’s double burden of malnutrition (DBM).
Recent studies of low and middle income countries with DBM have revealed that children and adults in the poorest income quintile face a greater prevalence of overweight and obesity than do those in higher income quintiles.
These increases in overweight/obesity are largely the result of rapid, increased availability and consumption of ultra-processed foods across all sections of society. The food and beverage industry in India is one of the world’s largest with a sales volume of 34 million tons.
Studies have shown that in Indian households – both urban and rural, 53% of children consume salted packaged food such as chips and instant noodles, 56% consume sweet packaged food such as chocolates and ice cream and 49% children consumed sugar-sweetened packaged beverages at an average of over twice a week.
Experts have raised alarm that unhealthy diet is responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other risk factor, and is a leading cause of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.