New Delhi, June 6 -- The steady weight gain among Indians sits heavy on the country's public and private health services. Last week, a report by National Family Health Survey 6 (NFHS-6) for 2023-24 says more Indians aged 15-49 years are obese than ever before. As per the latest report, 30.7% (up from 24% recorded in NFHS-5 in 2019-2021) of women and 27.3% (up from 22.9%) men in India are now obese. This couldn't have come at a worse time for a country that is facing multiple headwinds on several fronts ranging from education to economy.

With more than 100 million confirmed diabetics and pre-diabetics and millions more living undiagnosed and undetected cases, the rapidly growing obesity numbers are adding to India's well documented diabet...