New Delhi, July 6 -- With India facing an obesity crisis, the Centre has tasked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to come up with an ideal diet for Indians, and the body is expected to submit its recommendations shortly, two officials aware of the matter said.

The urgent directive follows alarming findings by Lancet, the British medical journal, that projected a surge in overweight and obese adults in India from 180 million in 2021 to 449 million by 2050, whena third of the country's population will be obese.

This trajectory places India as the country with the second-highest global burden of obesity after the US and China. The imperative to address obesity stems from its health and economic implications, given that it signi...