Lifestyle changes, intake of ultra-processed foods driving obesity at alarming rate: Eco Survey

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New Delhi, (IANS): Obesity is rising at an alarming rate and is today a major public health challenge in India, said Economic Survey for 2025-26 on Thursday.

According to the Economic Survey, tabled in the Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the concerning trend was driven by unhealthy diets, lifestyle changes, including sedentary lifestyles, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and environmental factors.

“It is affecting people across all age groups and increasing the risk of NCDs such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, impacting both urban and rural populations,” the Survey said.

Citing data from the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the Survey said that 24 per cent of Indian women and 23 per cent of Indian men are overweight or obese. Among women aged 15-49 years, 6.4 per cent are obese, and among men, 4.0 per cent are obese. The prevalence of excess weight among children under five has risen from 2.1 per cent in 2015-16 to 3.4 per cent in 2019-21.

As per estimates, more than 3.3 crore children in India were obese in 2020, and it is projected to reach 8.3 crore children by 2035.

The Economic Survey also flagged concern over the rising UPF market in the country, which is displacing long-established dietary patterns, worsening diet quality, and is associated with increased risk of multiple chronic diseases.

“India is one of the fastest-growing markets for UPF sales. It grew by more than 150 per cent from 2009 to 2023. Retail sales of UPFs in India surged from $0.9 billion in 2006 to nearly $38 billion in 2019, a 40-fold rise. It is during the same period that obesity has nearly doubled in both men and women. This mirrors the global rise of obesity, parallel to dietary shifts,” it said.

“The rising use of UPFs imposes a substantial economic cost through higher healthcare spending, lost productivity, and long-term fiscal strain,” it added.

The Survey also cited comprehensive, multi-pronged initiatives launched by the government to prevent, manage, and reduce obesity in the country.

The interventions include POSHAN Abhiyaan & Poshan 2.0, Fit India Movement, Khelo India, Eat Right India, Nationwide Awareness Campaign - ‘Aaj Se Thoda Kam’ and AAMs, the School Health Programme, and Yoga promotion.These aim to promote a holistic approach that integrates health, nutrition, physical activity, food safety, and lifestyle modifications and continue to advance the goal of a healthier, stronger, and obesity-free India. Lifestyle changes, intake of ultra-processed foods driving obesity at alarming rate: Eco Survey | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→April 27, 2026

How do ionic hair dryers work? Can they do what they promise?

 

Zhenzhong Liu/Unsplash

Magdalena Wajrak, Edith Cowan University

If you’ve been in the market for a new hair dryer, you’ve likely seen advertising for ionic ones. Some claim to produce negative ions in the millions – with or without the help of added minerals like tourmaline.

The broader claim is usually that these ions break water molecules into micro-droplets, resulting in faster drying and reducing frizz to give you super smooth, shiny-looking hair.

Are ionic hairdryers actually capable of doing what they claim? To understand this, we need to briefly delve into some fundamentals.

Wait, what is an ion?

All matter is composed of invisible building blocks called atoms. But they’re not the smallest things we know of. Atoms contain subatomic particles – protons, neutrons and electrons.

Every atom has a nucleus, a very dense centre made up of protons and neutrons. The number of protons determines what chemical element the atom is. Hydrogen has one proton, carbon has six, oxygen has eight, and so on. Molecules are groups of two or more atoms that form a chemical element; an oxygen molecule consists of two oxygen atoms, for example.

How does all this relate to ions? This is where electric charge comes in. All subatomic particles have an electric charge. Protons have a positive charge (+), electrons have a negative charge (-) and neutrons are, as the name suggests, neutral.

The nucleus has a positive charge overall, thanks to all the protons. Negatively charged electrons surround the nucleus because opposite charges attract. This is called electrostatic force, and it is this force that actually keeps the electrons from flying off away from the nucleus.

But electrostatic force is pretty weak. When materials touch or are rubbed together, we get the triboelectric effect – electrons can transfer from one surface to the other. This produces ions: positively or negatively charged atoms or molecules. For example, a negative oxygen ion is oxygen that’s gained an extra electron.

What do ions have to do with hair, then?

For the most part, hair is composed of large complex molecules called keratin proteins. In turn, keratin molecules are composed of various chemical groups, such as carboxyl groups, amino groups and disulfide groups. These can gain or lose electrons.

So, when hair is dried with hot air or is subjected to friction, keratin fibres lose electrons via the triboelectric effect – they become positively charged.

Remember electrostatic force? When hair strands are positively charged they push away from each other, and you get frizz and fly-aways.

This is why hairdryer manufacturers have come up with the idea to neutralise the positive charge with negative ions from the hairdryer. In theory, this should return the charges in your hair to neutral and therefore reduce frizz.

How do hair dryers generate negative ions?

This part is just physics. Although different manufacturers may use slightly different methods, most ionic hairdryers use high voltage applied to a fine wire inside the hairdryer.

This creates a very strong electric field near the outlet where the hot air is blowing. It sends electrons into the surrounding air, producing negatively charged ions – mostly oxygen and nitrogen. The airflow then carries these ions out with the hot air.

To increase the number of negative ions produced during this process, some ionic hairdryers incorporate a mineral called tourmaline which emits negative ions naturally.

Although theory does support the claim that negative ions might neutralise the electrostatic charge of positively charged hair, in practice the amount of ionisation generated by the ionic hairdryers is very small because they’re limited by the voltage applied (typically 1,600V).

Sure, you could generate a huge amount of negative ions with enough electricity, but that’s beyond the scope of an everyday beauty appliance.

The effect would likely be subtle

Overall, this means the effects from an ionic hair dryer would likely be subtle.

Other factors will play a more significant role in smoothness – such as your hair type, hair quality (whether it has been chemically damaged by bleaching or dyes) and what products have been used on the hair prior to drying.

There is also no scientific proof that ionic hairdryers dry hair faster by breaking up water droplets more efficiently, although some studies have demonstrated that ions enhance the evaporation rate of water.

Ultimately, before investing in a very expensive hair dryer, you may want to look at improving the health of your hair in general. Negative ions – while plausible in theory – can only take you so far.

Magdalena Wajrak, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Edith Cowan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→April 15, 2026