Global experts launch policy roadmap to improve children’s health and diets in India

The Let’s Fix Our Food (LFOF) Consortium has launched a policy document outlining actions to promote healthier diets and food environments for children and adolescents in India. 

Led by the Indian Council of Medical Research–National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), the document addresses key areas such as healthy school food environments, nutrition literacy, regulation of unhealthy food marketing, and front-of-pack nutrition labeling.

The initiative also involves several local and international partners, aiming to prevent diet-related diseases through coordinated, evidence-informed action. Some of the parties involved include the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), UNICEF, the Public Health Foundation of India, WHO, and Deakin University in Australia.

Multi-year and stakeholder project

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notes that the publication brings together almost three years of multidisciplinary research, stakeholder consultations, and policy dialogues.

“Evidence-based, multisectoral policy action is essential to create healthier food environments for children and adolescents. Collaborative initiatives such as the LFOF Consortium are important for addressing the growing burden of overweight, obesity, and diet-related non-communicable diseases in India,” comments Dr. M. Srinivas, member of Health at NITI Aayog.

Dr. Bharati Kulkarni, director at ICMR-NIN, says the institute is committed to generating high-quality evidence and fostering partnerships that translate research into public health action. “The policy recommendations reflect the collective efforts of researchers, policymakers, development partners, and young people working toward healthier food environments for India’s future generations.”

Urgency highlighted

The 10 policies are designed as a comprehensive, complementary suite of recommendations covering regulatory, fiscal, educational, environmental, and behavioral levers of change.

The report underscores that approximately 41 million Indian children aged five to 19 were overweight or obese in 2025, with numbers rising. 

“The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (2016–18) found that approximately 10% of adolescents are pre-diabetic, 1% are diabetic, and approximately 5% have elevated blood pressure, representing early indicators of a growing chronic disease burden,” details the policy brief.

“Good nutrition is associated with improved academic performance and higher school attendance. Yet the current school food environment in India is characterized by the widespread availability of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) in school canteens and through nearby street vendors.”

Addressing major gaps

According to the consortium, major progress for children’s nutrition has been made nationally and on a state level. However, two major gaps remain unaddressed. 

The first is that HFSS foods have not been legally defined, which makes it a legal challenge to implement marketing restrictions, and school canteen regulations remain inconsistent.

An emerging challenge points to the rise in ultra-processed food consumption post-COVID among Indian children and adolescents, highlight the experts. This calls for improved nutrition literacy, accelerated multisector convergence, and intensified enforcement of school food environment regulations. 

“Malnutrition is no longer only about undernutrition. Rising obesity, driven by unhealthy diets, challenges healthy growth among children and adolescents,” comments Marie-Claude Desilets, chief of Nutrition at UNICEF India.

“The release of these ten policy briefs and the Nutrition Environment Assessment Toolkit for Schools marks a step toward creating policies for healthier school food environments. Every child has the right to grow up in a food environment that enables them to thrive, learn, and achieve their full potential.”