India drafting first-ever National Obesity Guidelines to address obesity

India is drafting its first-ever National Obesity Guidelines to address what is now a public health emergency, with over one in four adults being overweight or obese. The comprehensive framework, developed by the ICMR and Health Ministry, will focus on screening, prevention, and treatment protocols. A critical component of the guidelines will be the inclusion and regulation of modern weight-loss drugs like GLP-1. This development comes at a time of significant concern, as the Indian Medical



Association has sounded an alarm over the "rampant misuse" of these drugs. 

The IMA warns that various non-specialist practitioners are prescribing them, stating this "will lead to massive misuse and without any proper supervision or expertise, this could be very, very dangerous." The new guidelines aim to establish strict protocols for who can prescribe these medications and how they should be used, tackling the dual challenge of a health crisis and medication safety.