With SKIMS study showing 24% overweight, 10% obese in 5–15 age group in Valley, Word Health Organization’s guidelines call for regulating canteens, snacks, ads near schools
Samiksha Mishra
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments across the world, including India, to urgently improve school food environments as childhood obesity rises and undernutrition persists in many regions. In a new global guideline released on 27 January 2026, the WHO calls on countries to ensure that all foods and beverages provided and sold in schools support healthy diets, stressing that school nutrition policies are essential for lifelong health and learning.
For the first time, WHO has recommended a “whole-school approach” to nutrition that extends beyond formal school meal programmes to include canteens, vendor stalls, snack corners and food marketed around school premises. The guideline underscores that unhealthy food environments during school hours shape children’s eating habits, academic performance, and long-term risk of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
WHO’s call comes at a time when the world is facing a double burden of malnutrition, with overweight and obesity rising even as undernutrition remains entrenched in many communities.
In 2025, nearly 188 million school-aged children and adolescents worldwide were living with obesity, overtaking the number of underweight children for the first time, according to WHO’s estimates. In India, this global trend is mirrored by growing concerns about childhood overweight and poor diets, even as efforts continue to reduce hunger and malnutrition through flagship programmes such as PM POSHAN. Public health experts note that rapid urbanisation, increased consumption of packaged foods, and sedentary lifestyles have contributed to shifting nutrition patterns among children.
Jammu and Kashmir illustrates this complex nutrition landscape. Data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–21) show that more than 26 per cent of children under five in the Union Territory are stunted—a marker of chronic undernutrition—while nearly 19 per cent are wasted, indicating recent weight loss or insufficient intake. Anaemia remains a severe concern, affecting over 70 per cent of children under five, underscoring persistent micronutrient deficiencies across the region. Although the prevalence of overweight and obesity in young children in Jammu and Kashmir is lower than in some urban Indian centres, studies show that nutrition challenges coexist with early signs of unhealthy weight gain, particularly among older children.
In the Kashmir Valley, hospital-based research offers more insight into school-age nutrition patterns: among children aged 5–15 years, nearly one in four were found to be overweight and around one in ten were classified as obese, highlighting a worrying trend in the very age group that spends much of their day in school. The study, conducted by the endocrinology department at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, reflects how undernutrition and overweight can exist alongside each other within the same communities, pointing to the need for balanced school nutrition strategies.
Experts say that while India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme remains one of the largest school feeding initiatives globally, its impact can be undermined if the surrounding food environment promotes unhealthy choices. “School meals have been instrumental in improving attendance and basic nutrition, but children are simultaneously exposed to high-sugar snacks and sugary drinks sold near or within school grounds,” said Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, public health economist. “Without regulating what surrounds the school, the benefits of healthy meals can be diluted.”
WHO’s guideline urges countries to establish clear nutrition standards that increase the availability and consumption of healthy foods while limiting those high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. It also recommends behavioural “nudging” strategies, such as placing healthier options at eye level, improving presentation, or offering pricing incentives for nutritious choices, which evidence shows can influence children’s food selections. However, WHO stresses that policies must be supported by effective monitoring and enforcement.
According to the WHO Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action, fewer than half of the countries with school food policies restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, a gap that many health advocates say is evident in Indian cities and towns alike.
The guideline was developed through a rigorous, evidence-based process and supports broader WHO initiatives like the Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity and the Nutrition-Friendly Schools Initiative. It also recognises the pivotal role of local, state and municipal authorities in adapting and implementing school food policies, a factor of particular relevance in India’s federal governance system.
As childhood obesity and undernutrition continue to challenge health systems globally and in India, WHO officials say that transforming school food environments is a long-term investment in public health. “Getting nutrition right at school is not just about meals—it is about giving children a healthier future,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the guideline launch.
The writer is a journalism student at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Jammu
sa***************@***il.com