ICMR Seeks Nationwide Data To Tackle India’s Rising Obesity Burden

With obesity emerging as a serious and steadily growing public health burden in India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has initiated a nationwide collaborative exercise to generate clear, evidence-based insights on how best to prevent and manage the condition.

The move comes at a time when India is witnessing a sharp rise in overweight and obesity across age groups. Once seen largely among affluent urban populations, the problem has now spread to smaller towns and rural areas, cutting across income groups. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), nearly one in four adults in the country is overweight or obese. Separate studies have also pointed to a worrying increase among children and adolescents, signalling a long-term health challenge.

Experts say this shift is being driven by changing diets, reduced physical activity, increased screen time and urban lifestyles. Easy access to processed foods, combined with sedentary habits, has contributed to a steady rise in body weight among Indians. What is particularly concerning is that obesity is now appearing earlier in life, increasing the risk of chronic diseases at younger ages.

Obesity is a chronic, complex disease characterized by excessive body fat accumulation, often caused by calorie-dense diets, lack of physical activity, genetics, and metabolic factors.

The health impact of obesity is wide-ranging. Excess body fat is closely linked to conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension and abnormal cholesterol levels. Together, these raise the risk of heart disease, stroke and other complications. India already carries a significant burden of non-communicable diseases, and rising obesity is expected to worsen this trend, putting additional pressure on healthcare systems.

At the same time, researchers are increasingly finding that obesity in Indians does not follow a single pattern. Some individuals may be overweight but show relatively normal metabolic profiles, while others with normal weight may have high blood sugar, blood pressure or unhealthy lipid levels. This has led to the recognition that Body Mass Index (BMI) alone may not be enough to assess health risks, and that a broader view of cardiometabolic health is needed.

It is in this context that the ICMR has proposed a large-scale secondary analysis of existing data and has sought expressions of interest (EoIs) from researchers and institutions.

The initiative aims to study how different interventions—such as changes in diet, increased physical activity, behavioural counselling and combined approaches—work in real-life settings across India. It will also examine how factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, diet and baseline health influence the success of these interventions.

As part of this effort, the ICMR has invited researchers to submit EoIs and contribute data from completed or ongoing cohort studies and clinical or community-based trials. By pooling high-quality datasets from across the country, the exercise seeks to generate stronger and more reliable evidence than individual studies can provide.

“This collaborative effort will help us understand not only what works, but for whom and under what conditions,” a senior health official associated with the initiative said. “Such insights are essential for designing targeted and effective public health strategies.”

The data to be contributed will include information on body measurements such as height, weight and BMI, details of the interventions used, and follow-up outcomes. Where available, additional data on blood pressure, blood sugar and lipid profiles will further strengthen the analysis. All datasets will be shared in a de-identified manner, ensuring confidentiality, and institutions will retain ownership of their data.

Public health experts have welcomed the initiative, describing it as a timely step in addressing a growing crisis. However, clinicians caution that data alone may not be sufficient unless accompanied by a shift in how obesity is understood and managed.

Dr. Anand Vishal, Professor of Medicine at ABVIMS and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, described the current situation as an “awakening of the giant” in the Indian context of obesity. “The ICMR’s call for nationwide data is an important step, but what India needs is a more comprehensive approach that goes beyond BMI and looks at metabolic health, lifestyle and individual risk profiles,” he said.

Drawing from clinical experience, Dr. Vishal noted that obesity-related complications are increasingly being seen at younger ages and even among individuals who may not appear overweight by conventional standards. This, he said, reflects the growing prevalence of hidden metabolic risk in the population.

He emphasised that future strategies must integrate better risk classification, early detection and targeted interventions. “Without such an approach, even large-scale data efforts may have limited impact on outcomes,” he added.