#dnaEdit: The curse of plenitude

A new study published in the reputed medical journal Lancet throws up a stark paradox in the case of India: India is home to the world’s largest underweight population and has one of the fast growing obese populations. From an estimated four lakh obese men in 1975, the Lancet study concludes that, four decades later, India has the world’s fifth largest population of obese men, with nearly one crore men, and the third largest population of obese women, with two crore women suffering from this problem. China is now the world leader in obesity, edging out the US from this dubious position. At the other end of the spectrum, there are over 20 crore Indians who are underweight. The spurt in obesity in India has, no doubt, to do with rising income levels and consequent higher consumption expenditure that many Indian families have been able to afford in the decades since liberalisation. The food processing industry has also taken off in a big way and a high-calorie diet has become the norm for much of the middle class, even as sedentary lifestyles are taking a toll on body physiology and human health.

As China and India moved towards a globalised economy, many global food processing majors in the fast food, soft drink, and packaged snack segments — scouting vigorously for fresh markets — found themselves in the world’s two most populous nations, even as they took a hammering in western societies for contributing to a veritable obesity epidemic. One can question the wisdom of Indian policymakers to allow those who peddle obesity-causing foods to an unsuspecting public. But the bottom-line is that GDP growth is the primary concern for those managing the economy, which arguably takes precedence over other concerns like public health, pollution or climate change. Nevertheless, some politicians have been brave enough to question the status quo. Last August, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi sought a ban on junk food in school canteens. She also sought the notification of new food guidelines that define junk food and for categorising it by nutritional value to tide over the poor understanding among parents and children about the dangers posed by processed foods, especially those foods high in fat, salt and sugar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the most fervent advocates of yoga as a panacea for the ills of the body and mind. However, yoga or an emphasis on physical training and exercise can only dovetail into a larger public policy framework that also involves healthy eating. Banning of junk food, as a solution, may be feasible only around school canteens, considering that as a society, we proceed under the assumption that children, unlike adults, require greater care and guidance. It is important that India’s food safety and standards regulator, the FSSAI, is strengthened so that nutritional labelling and food testing receive a greater impetus. However, recent indications are that the opposite is happening. The FSSAI has closed down two of its offices — in key cities like Lucknow and Chandigarh — citing staff shortage, and moving towards a “deregulation” and “self-compliance” regime. It can be reasonably suspected that the FSSAI’s tough line against Nestle India and some other companies in recent times is behind this shocking relinquishment of duties. More than ever, India needs a strong public regulator who can cut through the maze of information from corporate, advertising, activist, scientific and journalistic sources and provide citizens with reliable, credible and easily understandable facts about the food that we eat. The food processing industry should not be deprived of support or protection, but a strong regulator will ensure that they move towards creating products that benefit, and not, impair human health.