New Delhi, March 4 -- India has overtaken the United States in childhood obesity, ranking second globally after China, according to estimates published in the World Obesity Atlas 2026. Reporting data up to 2025, the Atlas estimated that 41 million Indian children aged 5 to 19 are overweight, of whom 14 million fall in the obese category.
China topped both categories, with 62 million children classified as overweight or having high Body Mass Index (BMI), including 33 million living with obesity. India followed, ahead of the United States, which has 27 million children with high BMI and 13 million living with obesity.
The report projected that by 2040, as many as 507 million children worldwide could be overweight or obese. In India alone, t...