India, March 5 -- India's obesity crisis is no longer hidden in statistics -- it is visible in every classroom, every delivery app notification, and every child's plate. Childhood in India's cities is being reshaped not only by screens and social media, but by what arrives at the doorstep wrapped in plastic and cardboard.

The daily meal, once a shared ritual anchored in care, is increasingly replaced by algorithm-curated convenience. For children, food now arrives through notifications, discounts, and auto-suggested menus long before hunger even announces itself. What looks like choice is in fact code-driven appetite, and what looks like abundance is often malnutrition in disguise.

In the same classroom bench, one child may struggle wit...