World Obesity Day: Ipsos Finds Indians Actively Seeking Help With Weight But Missing Diabetes, Heart Risk Links

Last Updated:March 04, 2026, 10:31 IST

Half of Indians living with obesity (50 per cent) said they had consulted a doctor about their weight in the past year, compared to 35 per cent globally

Indians living with obesity are more likely to seek medical advice and try weight-loss solutions than their global counterparts, according to a new survey released by Ipsos on World Obesity Day 2026.

However, many of these still underestimate the serious health risks associated with obesity, the findings, drawn from Ipsos’ Global Perceptions of Obesity Study across 14 countries, reveal.

The study reveals what researchers describe as an “obesity paradox" in India — while people living with obesity are more likely than the 14-country study average to seek help for their condition, they are driven by self-blame and perceived stigma, and have a critically low awareness of obesity’s serious health risks.

The study compared perceptions of 3,094 people living with obesity and 11,406 people not living with obesity across 14 countries, with India emerging as a country where individuals are actively seeking solutions but are driven strongly by self-blame and social pressure.

Roberto Cortese, head of Ipsos’ obesity and cardiometabolic disease monitors, told News18 that the findings underscore a disconnect between action and understanding. “In India, we see a concerning paradox: people living with obesity are actively trying to manage their condition due to internal and perceived external pressures but there is misunderstanding about the nature of obesity as a disease, and associated risks like diabetes and heart disease."

He believes that the “World Obesity Day" is an “opportunity to increase education and reframe the narrative: to view obesity not as a personal failing, but as a complex chronic disease".

Gauri Pathak, head of Ipsos Healthcare, India shared a similar perspective. “People living with obesity in India are significantly more likely to attribute obesity to genetics/ biology compared to their global counterparts. This may indicate more receptivity to medicalized treatments for obesity," she said.

Indians more likely to seek help and try fad diets

Ipsos, the global market research company headquartered in Paris, France, surveyed 14,500 adults across 14 countries, including 2000 respondents from India. The sample in India comprised 703 people living with obesity and 1,297 people not living with obesity.

Half of Indians living with obesity (50 per cent) told the firm online that they had consulted a doctor about their weight in the past year, compared to 35 per cent globally. They were also significantly more likely to have tried a fad diet, with 53 per cent reporting doing so versus 33 per cent worldwide.

However, this proactive approach appears to coexist with substantial knowledge gaps. Only 37 per cent of respondents in India associated obesity with being a direct cause or strong contributor to type 2 diabetes, and just 39 per cent linked it to heart disease. Globally, those figures stood higher at 53 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively.

Avoidance behaviours were particularly pronounced. As many as 82 per cent of Indians living with obesity said they had avoided social, leisure or romantic activities because of their weight—12 percentage points higher than the 14-country average of 70 per cent.

Among those who sought medical advice, respondents in India reported that doctors were more likely than the global average to recommend vitamins, supplements or other non-prescription products (42 per cent versus 26 per cent globally), or suggest joining a weight management programme (41 per cent versus 26 per cent).

Self-blame and social pressure run high

The survey highlights a strong undercurrent of self-blame in India. Sixty-one per cent of people living with obesity believe their condition is preventable through personal choices, only slightly below the global average of 66 per cent.

At the same time, three-quarters (75 per cent) agreed that diet and exercise alone can solve obesity for most people—significantly higher than the global figure of 63 per cent.

This suggests that many Indians view both the cause and the solution to obesity primarily through the lens of individual responsibility, even as scientific understanding increasingly frames obesity as a complex chronic disease influenced by biological, environmental and social factors.

Social pressure also weighs heavily. Half of respondents (50 per cent) said they frequently feel self-conscious or embarrassed because of their weight, compared to 35 per cent globally. Nearly half (48 per cent) said they often feel anxious about how others perceive them, versus 36 per cent worldwide.

Impact spills into everyday life

The toll extends beyond emotional wellbeing into daily living. There was an 11-point gap in satisfaction with physical health between people living with obesity (59 per cent satisfied) and those not living with obesity (70 per cent satisfied) in India.

As India continues to grapple with rising rates of obesity alongside one of the world’s largest burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the survey suggests that improving public understanding of obesity’s health risks—and reducing stigma—may be as critical as expanding access to treatment.

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