ICMR rings the belly alarm: India’s waistline on the run

NEW DELHI: In a bid to tackle growing obesity in India, the ICMR has launched a nationwide exercise to find out what actually works to reduce weight and related health risks, at a time when nearly one in four adults in the country is overweight or obese.The scale of the problem is becoming hard to ignore, with over 25% of India’s adult population facing excess weight, fuelling a surge in diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease across both urban and rural areas.Despite years of research and a proliferation of diet plans, fitness regimes and awareness campaigns, there is still no clear, unified answer on which approach works best — or for whom. To bridge this gap, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has invited researchers to contribute data from across studies for a large pooled analysis.The aim is to compare the effectiveness of different strategies — from diet and physical activity to behavioural and multi-component interventions — and understand how they perform across diverse population groups.The analysis will go beyond weight loss to track blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reflecting growing concern that obesity is closely linked to a wider cluster of lifestyle diseases.A key focus will be identifying why the same intervention works for some but not others, with researchers examining variations across age, gender, income levels and geography, including rural areas where obesity is rising alongside persistent undernutrition.Experts say the challenge is becoming more complex, with weight alone no longer a reliable marker of health risk. Increasingly, individuals with normal weight are showing metabolic disorders, while some with excess weight may not have immediate complications.The initiative is expected to generate India-specific evidence to guide future treatment guidelines and public health strategies, as policymakers grapple with a fast-growing health challenge cutting across age groups and regions.