From undernutrition to obesity, Lancet study unveils India’s double whammy

India is grappling with a profound nutritional shift, as highlighted by the latest Lancet study, with nutritionists attributing this "double whammy" of undernutrition and obesity to a dual challenge: inadequate consumption of quality foods and easy access to cheap, unhealthy alternatives.

The Lancet study, published on Thursday, found that in India, nearly 44 million women and 26 million men were obese in 2022, respectively.

The analysis by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a global network of scientists - and the World Health Organization (WHO) also found that about 12.5 million children aged between five and 19 were overweight in 2022.