Published Jan 27, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 27, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Groups such as Buddhists and Jains showed lower prevalence rates at 31.6 percent and 43.1 percent for men and women, respectively.
Synopsis: India is witnessing a rapid and uneven rise in obesity across regions, classes and genders. But the shift reflects more than changing diets or declining physical activity. It exposes how socio-demographic transitions, economic inequality, household structures, gender expectations and cultural practices create environments that quietly promote weight gain while simultaneously punish those who carry excess weight.
For decades, excess body weight in India signalled prosperity, good care and social mobility. A fuller body meant a well-fed household, financial security and familial devotion, especially for women.
Today, that cultural comfort collides with a harsh reality: morbidly obese people are intensely dissatisfied with their body image, facing mockery, social discrimination and psychological distress.
India is witnessing a rapid and uneven rise in obesity across regions, classes and genders. But the shift reflects more than changing diets or declining physical activity. It exposes how socio-demographic transitions, economic inequality, household structures, gender expectations and cultural practices create environments that quietly promote weight gain while simultaneously punish those who carry excess weight.
Between 2005 and 2021, the proportion of people classified as high risk using waist-to-height ratio climbed to over 33 percent from around 24 percent. An additional 280 million people became at risk for obesity and related diseases in just one decade.
The increase emerged primarily from food-insecure rural areas, revealing a pattern that confounds simple explanations about urbanisation or wealth.
In many Indian communities, body weight is tied to social standing, but the pattern varies sharply by socio-demographic factors.
According to the Abdominal Obesity in India study, the Sikh community reported the highest prevalence of abdominal obesity, with 61.8 percent of women and 21.1 percent of men crossing high-risk thresholds.
The researchers noted that 80 percent of Sikh respondents belonged to the wealthiest sections of society, suggesting economic prosperity drove both cultural perceptions and obesity rates.
The study found clear socio-demographic gradations. Prevalence of abdominal obesity for people residing in urban areas stood at 49.5 percent for women and 15.7 percent for men, compared to 35 percent for women and 10 percent for men in rural areas. Economic group data depicted that there is higher prevalence among wealthier sections.
Of the total obese adults, more than half (51.8 percent women, 63 percent men) fell in the top two richer quintiles.
Conversely, the study found that groups such as Buddhists and Jains showed lower prevalence rates at 31.6 percent and 43.1 percent for men and women, respectively, potentially reflecting the combined effects of austere cultural practices and traditional dietary preferences.
Among scheduled tribes, obesity rates remained low at 24.4 percent for women and 6.1 percent for men, though the same populations bore the highest burden of malnutrition, a double whammy as economic conditions improved.
“There is evidence to suggest that religious groups may reflect the combined effects of cultural practices, economic conditions, livelihoods, and dietary preferences on obesity,” the authors of the Abdominal Obesity in India study stated.
The socio-demographic analysis found prevalence less in Buddhist and Jain women and more in Sikh and Christian women. The difference was not very pronounced in men, suggesting gender intersected with religious and economic factors.
The traditional Indian diet has undergone what researchers call a “nutrition transition”, driven by both cultural change and socio-demographic mobility.
According to a study on cultural causes, there is a significant cultural shift away from whole grains toward refined carbohydrates, such as the replacement of brown rice with white rice. The research showed a growing “culture of eating out”, where food was frequently cooked in unhealthy, reused oils.
But these dietary shifts followed clear socio-demographic lines. Dietary habits once reserved for special occasions have become daily staples among wealthier urban households. The study found non-vegetarianism to be a major predictor of weight gain, with 71 percent of women and 83 percent of men now consuming meat or eggs.
Research indicated that women who regularly consumed non-vegetarian food have significantly higher odds of abdominal obesity compared to vegetarians.
The Abdominal Obesity in India study found that truncal obesity was more prevalent in women who regularly (daily or weekly) consumed non-vegetarian food (42.4 percent) than those who were vegetarian or occasionally consumed non-vegetarian food (36.4 percent). However, this pattern was not found in men, revealing gender-specific cultural and dietary interactions.
According to the Unique Attributes of Obesity in India study, the consumption of packaged and processed foods accounted for up to 30 percent of daily calories in wealthy urban households, but far less in lower-income rural areas.
The research documented that the retail value of packaged junk foods and soft drinks went up by 42 times between 2006 and 2019. The study reported that among 13,274 Indian children aged 9 to 14 years, 53 percent consumed packed foods or packaged sweetened beverages at least once a day.
The socio-demographic gradient appeared clearly. The study found that Indians consumed 10 percent of their average total caloric intake from processed food. Urban households in the highest income group led this nutrition transition with consumption of almost 30 percent of their total daily calories from processed food.
Among different regions of India, the calorie share of processed food was highest in South India, reflecting both economic development and changing cultural food preferences.
Food culture, too, played a central role. Traditional diets, once diverse and seasonal, has given way to refined carbohydrates, edible oils and processed foods. Eating out increasingly signalled modernity and success. Festivals, social gatherings and religious observances revolve around calorie-dense foods, making moderation culturally difficult. Public health messaging often struggled to counter deeply rooted associations between food abundance and hospitality in the Indian society.
Cultural and social norms in India continued to dictate physical activity levels along gender lines, often to the detriment of women’s health.
According to the Transitioning to an Obese India study, as the rural economy transitioned, many women withdrew from agricultural labour into more sedentary roles, a shift that decreased physical activity for women more significantly than for men.
This represented both a demographic transition in labour patterns and a cultural shift in women’s acceptable roles.
The Unique Attributes of Obesity in India study revealed that a significant proportion of the Indian population (57 percent) was physically inactive or only mildly active, and females were less active than males.
Physical inactivity was highest among the South Indian population (72 percent), making the south zone more vulnerable to obesity and subsequently to chronic illnesses. This regional and gender disparity reflected both cultural attitudes toward women’s physical activity and economic development patterns.
“The rural economy is undergoing an economic transition and has resulted in withdrawal of a significant proportion of the female workforce from economic activity. This also indicates the possibility of decreased physical activity in women, particularly, in rural areas,” the authors of the Abdominal Obesity in India study stated.
Studies have established that the transition from agricultural labour to wage labour decreased the physical activity of women, rather than men, showing how economic shifts interacted with gender norms.
Intrahousehold inequities have also played a silent role. The Transitioning to an Obese India study found men to be culturally more likely to have access to “activity-reducing” technologies like motorised transport (cars and motorbikes), while women were more frequently associated with household-wide sedentary technologies like television.
“Male overweight prevalence is more closely related to access to motorised vehicles. These vehicles enable greater income generation and are more likely to be used by men. When technologies are relatively non-excludable within a household, such as a television, then women’s overweight rates are impacted as much as men,” the study found.
The study noted that for South Asian women, physical activity levels often plummetted during post-pregnancy years due to cultural prioritisation of caretaking duties over personal fitness.
“Physical activity was particularly low among South Asian women in the post-pregnancy years, when caretaking duties were prioritised. Cultural expectations around marriage, motherhood and respectability further complicate prevention. Weight gain after childbirth is often normalised, while efforts to lose weight may attract social disapproval rather than support,” said the authors.
The rapid “urbanisation of the habitat” has further restricted traditional movement, creating new socio-demographic patterns of obesity. The Unique Attributes of Obesity in India study documented that in cities, the disappearance of urban green spaces and walkable sidewalks has replaced communal physical activity with sedentary “screen time”.
According to the World Urbanisation Prospects 2018 published by the United Nations, more than 50 percent of the Indian population will live in urban areas by 2046. The study noted that the infrastructure of these cities was not built to accommodate and withstand such a rapid demographic onslaught.
This has been leading to the accelerated shrinking of urban green spaces, including public parks, walkable roads and sidewalks.
“Access to urban green spaces is a well-appreciated factor in increasing physical activity levels, reducing the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease, and improving the overall health of the residents,” the authors stated.
Such rapid expansions have also contributed to longer commute times, further eating into the availability of time to increase physical activity levels.
The research found that a mismatch between rapid urbanisation and a slower pace of development of public transport systems led to the increasing use of personal doorstep transport options, and increased usage of public transport has been reported to be associated with a decrease in the prevalence of obesity.
The Transitioning to an Obese India study found that at later stages of economic development (urban areas), obesogenic behaviours related to smoking and watching television explained the rise in overweight incidence.
“Increases in television watching and ownership of motorised vehicles over the survey periods are highly correlated with the explained changes in overweight incidence,” the researchers stated.
Obesity has conventionally been recognised as an issue pertaining to urban and wealthier sections of society. However, the Abdominal Obesity in India study highlights a considerable difference in obesity trends between urban and rural populations in India.
The study found that about one-third of women aged 15 to 49 years in rural areas to be abdominally obese.
“The proximity to urban centres is also considered a determinant of rural obesity. Better accessibility to nearest town is likely to increase the exposure to economic opportunities,” the authors stated.
“Changes in food consumption habits happen when there is better access to processed food supply chain, resulting in nutrition transition. As the share of agriculture in the overall occupational structure decreases and non-farm activities increase in the rural economy, there is a greater likelihood of rural residents being exposed to economic opportunities. This may lead to changes in food consumption habits and a shift towards processed foods, which are often high in calories and low in nutrients,” the study noted.
The Transitioning to an Obese India study stated that rural overweight incidence has increased across the income gradient, and urban overweight incidence has rapidly increased among those with lower socioeconomic status.
The Abdominal Obesity in India study found that the wealth of households emerged as a potential differentiator of abdominal obesity among Indians.
“Reduced physical activity owing to organised work and mechanised transport, particularly for the wealthier sections of society, has led to the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle. Consumption of fat-rich diet is one of the factors that explains the higher prevalence of abdominal obesity in the wealthier sections,” the authors stated.
As per research cited in the study, higher-income groups consumed a diet where 32 percent of energy was derived from fat, while for the lower-income groups, only 17 percent of energy was derived from fat.
“Along with economic development, the country also undergoes nutrition transition: the replacement of brown rice with white rice, overconsumption of other refined or processed foods, carbohydrate rich diet and increased consumption of vegetable oil,” the study noted.
Women consistently showed higher rates of overweight and obesity, driven by social roles that limit physical activity and prioritise family needs over personal health.
According to the Abdominal Obesity in India study, national survey data show that abdominal obesity affects nearly 40 percent of women, compared to 12 percent of men, with the highest burden among women aged 30 to 49 years.
“The prevalence of abdominal obesity among women in India is quite high, with about four in 10 women having a waist circumference higher than the prescribed cut-off mark for abdominal obesity, which puts them at an increased risk of metabolic complications and non-communicable diseases,” the study stated.
The study found that abdominal obesity in women sets in during age 30 to 49 years. In the age group of 15 to 19, only 12.7 percent of women were abdominally obese. When women reached the age of 20 to 29 years, 32.2 percent were found to be abdominally obese. The prevalence increased to 49.3 percent during age 30 to 39 years and 56.7 percent during age 40 to 49 years.
Many of these women fall within “normal” BMI ranges, masking metabolic risk and delaying medical attention. As per NFHS-5 data cited in the study, 23 percent of women and 22.1 percent of men are overweight as per the BMI criterion.
However, 40 percent of women and 12 percent of men are abdominally obese. About 24 percent of women from scheduled tribes have high waist circumference, and 12 percent of these women have high BMI, revealing how BMI fails to capture abdominal obesity.
“Men and women differ in the patterns of fat deposition and fat utilisation by the body. Women generally have a larger proportion of body fat mass as compared to men. Oestrogen has an effective role in distribution of fat deposition in women. It appears to be protective against abdominal fat deposition in women in reproductive age group but the loss of oestrogens after menopause, independent of ageing, makes women more vulnerable to abdominal obesity,” the authors explained.
The study noted that the prevalence of lower sedentary metabolic rate in women compared to men also explained the prevalence of relatively higher abdominal obesity in women. Studies have examined whether middle-aged (30 to 49 years) weight gain in women is a function of ageing or hormonal changes, and it has been found that the steady weight gain of half a kilogram annually during mid-life is due to age.
The Transitioning to an Obese India study stated that biological factors that matter for women do not matter for men as much.
“Five percent and 12 percent of the change in overweight incidence among rural and urban women, respectively, come from the lowering of reproductive stress and increases in age due to the demographic transition,” the researchers stated.
The study found that among women, overweight incidence among those living in rural areas was associated with both age and reduction in reproductive stress. Among urban women, age was the only factor among the biological factors that determines overweight incidence changes. Women above 45 were most susceptible to overweight incidence, since the percent contribution from their age has increased.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
