INDIA SPENDING BILLIONS ON JUNK FOOD

Productivity losses due to related health ailments in billions of dollars

Indians are eating a growing amount of fast food and the country is ratcheting up losses over it. About 23 per cent Indian adults can be classified overweight or obese, according to a recent report by global nonprofit Access To Nutrition Initiative (ATNI). The report adds that changes in consumer diets, including prevalence of packaged food, is to be blamed for a rise in micronutrient deficiency.

The total volume of ultra-processed food that India consumes has increased by more than 90 per cent since 2011, said a 2023 World Health Organization (WHO) report. Retail sales growth of ultra-processed foods slowed down early in the pandemic but then recovered. The growth rate is similar to that of essential foods where volume is up 106 per cent in the same period (chart 1).

Assuming that the economy shows 6 per cent growth and disposable income improves, it will lead to a significant rise in the value of different ultra-processed food categories over the next decade. Four out of five categories under consideration would see over ~1 trillion in sales, with chocolates and sugar confectioneries topping the list (chart 2).

And these habits have a cost. Obesity and non-communicable diseases blamed on unhealthy diet are causing labour productivity losses in hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a 2023 report by the United Nations

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). India is third among 154 countries ranked on estimated losses related to unhealthy dietary patterns, data from the FAO report showed. The cost to India was $669 billion on a purchasing power parity basis considering 2020 values. The United States’ cost was highest, followed by China (chart 3).