India’s alarming rise in lifestyle diseases is directly linked to economic prosperity and modern living habits, said Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Director of Novo Nordisk India.
Speaking on the growing burden of metabolic disorders at THE WEEK Health Summit 2025, he noted that everything about contemporary lifestyles works against good health. “Sitting for long hours is equal to smoking. We consume surplus calories and burn far fewer,” he said.
India’s calorie surplus, he explained, has increased over the period of time. “Even when we’re conscious about what we eat, if food is on the table, most of us end up consuming more,” he said. The result is stark: nearly 100 million diabetics and several million more people are living with obesity.
The 'Thin-Fat' phenomenon
Shrotriya highlighted the “thin-fat Indian” phenomenon, where people who appear lean often have high visceral fat. Excess fat, he stressed, is “the mother of most metabolic diseases”, contributing to nearly 230 health problems.
In contrast, the United States is beginning to see early signs of a decline in obesity. “The rate has dropped from 40 to 37 percent — that’s nearly 13 million fewer obese people,” he said. The progress, he added, came from a combination of diet, exercise and medical interventions. “Discipline alone cannot fix this. If it worked, such a large percentage of Indians wouldn’t be obese.”
GLP-1 medications: A hope for India’s metabolic health transformation
Shrotriya said India must prepare for a future where prevention is ideal but treatment is unavoidable. Modern tools such as GLP-1 medications are reshaping outcomes. “We have introduced these things at 35 per cent lower price and acceptance is growing rapidly. I have never seen a drug class scale this fast,” he said.
Also Read
- THE WEEK Health Summit 2025 | From suicidal thoughts to solo skydiving: The comeback story India needs to hear
- THE WEEK Health Summit 2025 | Reproductive genomics is transforming prenatal care, says MedGenome’s Priya Kadam
- THE WEEK Health Summit 2025 | Experts stress balanced nutrition as key to India’s health resilience
With greater government engagement and increasing awareness of metabolic disorders, he believes India could witness a transformation similar to the US. “If we tackle obesity effectively, metabolic diseases will fall by 10 to 15 per cent,” he said, calling the shift “an optimistic moment for India.”
Medicines like Ozempic, he added, have become some of the most-searched terms on Google, evidence of rising public interest and understanding.