Landscape of Obesity Clinical Research in India

Obesity has emerged as major public health challenge in India, yet the development, scope and limitations of the national evidence base have not been comprehensively studied. This review evaluated obesity research conducted in India between 2000-2026. Literature was identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar and synthesized thematically to examine the evolution, principal findings and remaining gaps in obesity research in India. The synthesis comprised 74 sources: 69 primary research publications and 5 contextual sources providing relevant national surveillance and conceptual evidence. National surveys documented continuing increase in overweight and obesity, establishing obesity as growing public health burden in India and major shared risk factor for metabolic dysfunction and NCDs. Indian studies identified distinct obesity phenotypes that were not captured by BMI alone and characterized by variations in body-fat distribution and metabolic health. Genetic research has remained focused on gene associations, while biomarker and intervention studies have frequently examined obesity within the context of diabetes or cardiometabolic risk rather than primary disease. Overall, literature remains dominated by cross-sectional and regionally concentrated studies. Future research requires harmonized phenotype definitions, longitudinal investigation and integrated approaches that examine obesity as heterogeneous chronic disease across the life course.