India, March 17 -- For decades, India's health policy and programmes viewed malnutrition through the lens of undernutrition, aiming to prevent stunting, wasting and underweight among young children, anaemia in children and women and iodine deficiency at all ages. Poverty was measured by economists in terms of individual calorie consumption, rather than nutrients available through diverse diets. Food policy focused on ensuring availability of carbohydrate-rich staples (rice and wheat) as well as calorie-dense edible oils.

While programmes to prevent, identify and correct undernutrition must continue with unwavering commitment, recent decades have witnessed the rapid rise of another form of malnutrition, manifest as overweight and obesity....