1 in every 8 children in 12-16-yr age group obese: Study in Kol schools
Times of India | 5 March 2026
Kolkata: Around one in eight adolescents, aged between 12 and 16 years, are obese, according to a study conducted in Kolkata schools by a global obesity awareness organisation. The trend was growing at an alarming rate due to lifestyle reasons and unhealthy food habits, said experts.
As World Obesity Day was observed in the city on Wednesday for the first time since Covid, the Howrah bridge was in the evening lit with blue and yellow lights, colours that symbolise obesity awareness.
The revival of Obesity Day took place in Kolkata at the initiative of METTA Dana Foundation, a global academic outreach organisation, the focus being childhood obesity.
Doctors from all over the world participated in an online talk. "Childhood obesity is rising rapidly, with the prevalence among school-aged children increasing from 4% in 1975 to almost 20% in 2022 (a five-fold increase over five decades). The rise is sharpest in low- and middle-income countries, like India and Bangladesh. Childhood obesity often continues into adulthood, increasing the risk of serious non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers (13% are clearly related)," said Debashis Basu, endocrinologist and chairman of METTA Dana Foundation. "Early signs of chronic diseases are already appearing in children today."
He added periodic studies by MDF and other organisations in Kolkata revealed the city's young population was turning obese, which made them vulnerable to diabetes. "Around a fourth of Kolkata's children are diabetic or are in a pre-diabetic stage," Basu said.
Globally, more than half of all adults and a third of children and adolescents will become overweight or obese by 2050, a study published in Lancet says. It adds obesity is getting bigger, projecting an estimated 21.8 crore men and 23.1 crore women in India who will be overweight or obese—totalling 44.9 crore, or nearly a third of the country's projected population—by 2050.
India is projected to have the world's second-highest number of obese kids and adolescents, aged between five and 14 years, with estimates indicating around 16 million overweight boys and more than 14 million overweight girls.
While globally the day was observed on a big scale, India had hardly seen any awareness event on obesity since 2020, said Basu. "We took the initiative to revive it this year with support from National Institute of Nutrition. India is beginning to face the triple burden of malnutrition, stunting and wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity—often coexisting in the same family or the same person in various stages," added Basu.