Maharashtra FDA Launches School Campaign to Ban Unhealthy Food

MUMBAI — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, has launched an education campaign across schools in the state to eliminate student access to unhealthy food and promote nutritious alternatives, drawing strong support from pediatricians.

The initiative involves FDA officials educating students as well as school administrators to ensure that access to unhealthy food is banned entirely on school premises, while institutions actively explore healthier food options.

Pediatricians across the state have backed the FDA measure and are calling for its strict implementation amid rising concerns over childhood lifestyle diseases. According to UNICEF, India ranks second globally after China in childhood overweight and obesity, with an estimated 41 million children aged 5 to 19 years affected. Recent estimates indicate that roughly one in four Indian schoolchildren is now obese.

Medical experts emphasize that school-based health initiatives are vital to shifting the healthcare focus from treating chronic illnesses in hospitals to preventing them through early education. A study published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine noted that children who frequently consume fast food and sweets while eating less fruit face a significantly higher risk of obesity, concluding that effective interventions must take place at the school, family, and community levels.

The push in Maharashtra mirrors wider preventive health efforts backed by medical bodies such as the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), and the WHEELS Global Foundation, which advocate for physician-led health education directly in schools to establish lifelong healthy habits.