New Delhi, March 1 -- Childhood obesity is no longer an emerging concern-it is a fast-accelerating public health problem both globally and locally. And there's data to prove it. A September 2025 report from National Family Health Survey, for instance, states that obesity among children under five is up by more than 100% in the past decade. Overweight/obesity in adolescent girls, aged 10-19, rose from 2.4% to 5.4% and among boys from 1.7% to 6.6%. It estimates that by 2030, India may have 27 million children aged 5-19 with obesity, accounting for 11% of global obesity numbers.

These numbers are not just statistics-they are playing out in households across India. In Delhi, Anjali Rai traces her 10-year-old daughter's weight gain to w...