Obesity is rapidly becoming one of India’s most pressing public health challenges. With rising consumption of processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and unhealthy habits, the number of overweight and obese adults has been steadily increasing across the country. A new nationwide study has revealed alarming rates of obesity across Indian households, with Puducherry emerging as the state with the highest percentage of households where all adults are either overweight or obese.
The findings come from a detailed analysis of data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–21), conducted by researchers from ICMR-National Institute for Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), TERI School of Advanced Studies, and Symbiosis International. The study examined over 6.3 lakh households and 7.6 lakh individuals to assess the clustering of obesity within families.
According to the study, 20 per cent of Indian households had all adults falling into the overweight category, and 10 per cent were classified as obese. But in Puducherry, the numbers were far more concerning—nearly 46 per cent of households had all adults either overweight or obese, making it the most obese region in India.
Following Puducherry, states like Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Kerala, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim also reported high obesity clustering, with 30–40 per cent of households having all adult members classified as overweight or obese. These regions, especially in the south and northeast, reflect the growing health burden linked to changing lifestyles, rising consumption of processed food, and reduced physical activity.
“Obesity has clearly shifted from being an individual concern to a household-level crisis,” the researchers noted in the study, published in the Public Health Journal. The problem is particularly acute in urban areas and among affluent families, where access to high-calorie diets and sedentary routines are more common.
Health experts are concerned because family clusters of obesity significantly increase the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These include type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and even 13 types of cancer, making early intervention critical.
Obesity is widely recognised as a marker of poor cardio-metabolic health, and this clustering trend is a red flag. The study emphasizes that public health policies must shift from targeting individuals to designing family-based interventions, especially in high-risk states.
The findings serve as a wake-up call: tackling India’s obesity crisis will require collective lifestyle changes at the household level—starting with balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, and better health education across cities and communities.
