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The dramatic rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in India: Obesity transition and the looming health care crisis

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  • Siddiqui, Zakaria
  • Donato, Ronald

Abstract

The dramatic increase in overweight/obesity prevalence in India and the concomitant increase in nutrition-related non-communicable diseases present critical health policy challenges. This paper analyses two successive nationally representative household datasets – the 2015–16 and 2005–06 National Family Health Survey rounds – to discern the extent of shifts in overweight/obesity prevalence underway in India and the implications for informing policy. Unique features of the study are the focus given to analysing overweight/obesity across different sub-populations, based on gender, rurality and socio-economic status, and the diverse pattern of the prevalence across individual states over time. A fixed effects model using state-time interactions is used to analyse state-level variations and time-dependent effects across particular sub-populations. Despite the considerable increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity over the past decade and a degree of convergence across population cohorts, the results show that this has been accompanied by considerable variation and divergence between states. Our findings reveal that a select few economically advanced states, most noticeably for wealthy urban female cohorts, experienced negative time-dependent effects where the predicted rates of overweight/obesity declined over the decade. However, some less developed and more populous states experienced positive time-dependent effects such that by 2015–16 they had attained overweight/obesity rates that had overtaken those of richer states. Also, interestingly, beyond a particular threshold education exhibits a negative relationship in the likelihood of overweight/obesity for females but not for males. Policymakers need to understand the driving factors underpinning the state-level differences and the changing patterns across cohorts over time, and to formulate regionally–based policies that specifically target these differences rather than pursue a single policy approach. Moreover, India’s health system needs to be re-orientated to manage burgeoning chronic disease conditions and to address the burden placed on the poor given that such health expenditure is mostly privately incurred.

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  • Siddiqui, Zakaria & Donato, Ronald, 2020. "The dramatic rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in India: Obesity transition and the looming health care crisis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:134:y:2020:i:c:s0305750x20301765
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105050
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    3. Valentina Alvarez-Saavedra à & Pierre Levasseur & Suneha Seetahul, 2023. "The Role of Gender Inequality in the Obesity Epidemic: A Case Study from India," Post-Print hal-04051768, HAL.
    4. Archana Dang & Indrani Gupta, 2021. "Obesity and its Impact on COVID Occurrence: Evidence from India," IEG Working Papers 430, Institute of Economic Growth.
    5. Alice Sims & Paige van der Pligt & Preethi John & Jyotsna Kaushal & Gaganjot Kaur & Fiona H McKay, 2021. "Food Insecurity and Dietary Intake among Rural Indian Women: An Exploratory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, May.
    6. Archana Dang, 2023. "Time preferences and obesity: Evidence from urban India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(4), pages 487-514, July.
    7. Aiyar, Anaka & Dhingra, Sunaina & Pingali, Prabhu, 2021. "Transitioning to an obese India: Demographic and structural determinants of the rapid rise in overweight incidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    8. Archana Dang & Indrani Gupta, 2023. "Overnutrition and COVID Prevalence in India: Evidence and Implications," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 17(1), pages 44-59, April.
    9. Ghosh, Pritam & Rohatgi, Pratima & Bose, Kaushik, 2022. "Determinants of time-trends in exclusivity and continuation of breastfeeding in India: An investigation from the National Family Health Survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
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