Introduction

Walk past the gate of almost any school in urban India at dispersal time, and the scene is familiar: a cluster of vendors selling chips, biscuits, sugar-laden drinks, and heavily salted snacks to children who are still wearing their uniforms. This is not a minor inconvenience. According to the World Obesity Atlas 2026, nearly 41 million children aged 5 to 19 years in India were living with overweight or obesity in 2025, and this figure is projected to account for more than 11 per cent of the global childhood obesity burden by 2030. Behind that number is a diet increasingly dominated by foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt, commonly referred to as HFSS foods.

The debate around HFSS foods in Indian schools is no longer confined to academic journals. It has moved into gazette notifications, Supreme Court hearings, NITI Aayog-backed policy launches, and the offices of the country's top nutrition scientists. Regulators, researchers, pediatricians, and patient groups are all raising the same question: how much longer can India allow children to be surrounded by foods that are directly fuelling the country's non-communicable disease crisis?

Understanding HFSS Foods and Why Schools Are the Focal Point

HFSS stands for High Fat, Sugar, and Salt. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024, set out by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), HFSS foods are defined as foods or diets that exceed recommended thresholds for added fat, sugar, or salt. These foods are typically energy-dense, low in micronutrients and fibre, and are associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Schools occupy a central position in this debate for a straightforward reason. Children spend the majority of their waking hours within school boundaries or in the immediate vicinity. Research conducted in Delhi and the National Capital Region found that the available food and beverage options in and around participating educational institutions were largely high in fat, salt, and sugar, despite existing government and school guidelines on restricting the availability and accessibility of HFSS foods. Healthy options were also found to be significantly more expensive than HFSS foods both inside and outside schools. This price and availability gap is what makes voluntary behaviour change among children genuinely difficult.

Ultra-processed food consumption in India surged from USD 900 million in 2006 to USD 37.9 billion in 2019, reflecting a growth rate of over 33 per cent annually according to India's Economic Survey 2024-25. The shift from traditional fibre-rich diets to calorie-dense packaged snacks has been fastest among children, whose food preferences are actively shaped by school environments, peer groups, and relentless advertising.

The Regulatory Landscape: What India Has Done So Far

India introduced the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations in 2020. Under these regulations, FSSAI restricts the sale of certain foods high in fat, sugar, or sodium to schoolchildren on school premises and within 50 metres of the school gate. This 50-metre rule represented a meaningful first step. However, enforcement has remained inconsistent, and until recently, the regulations lacked a precise, legally grounded definition of what exactly qualifies as HFSS.

A new ICMR-NIN-led policy report highlighted that India's efforts to curb childhood obesity are hindered by the absence of a legally enforceable definition of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, and described a standardised definition as a prerequisite for effective policy implementation. Without that definition, enforcement agencies have faced difficulty identifying which products actually fall under the restrictions.

That regulatory gap is now being addressed. In August 2026, FSSAI issued a draft notification proposing a new classification system for foods high in added fat, sugar, and salt, with the aim of strengthening standards for food consumed by schoolchildren. The proposed thresholds are based on the ICMR's Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, and the draft seeks to introduce clear benchmarks for identifying foods high in each of the three nutrients.

Under the proposal, a solid food item will be classified as high in added fat if it contains more than 4.2 grams of added fat per 100 grams, while the threshold for liquid products has been set at more than 1.5 grams per 100 millilitres. The 2026 provisions are currently in draft form. FSSAI has invited public comments until October 9, 2026, so the final rules and their implementation timeline have not yet been announced.

What Public Health Experts Are Demanding

The policy momentum has been significantly shaped by the voices of India's public health community, which has grown increasingly vocal about the inadequacy of existing protections.

In June 2025, a major consensus statement was released calling for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on HFSS products. The statement was initiated by NAPi and endorsed by 28 organisations, including the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), Consumer VOICE, and Diabetes India.

Professor K. Srinath Reddy of the Public Health Foundation of India stated that India cannot afford to wait while NCDs escalate and children become marketing targets, and emphasized that warning labels are simple, effective, and evidence-based. Dr. Arun Gupta, Convener of NAPi, argued that without mandatory warning labels, the public remains uninformed, and added that industry interests must not override children's right to health.

The Supreme Court has also weighed in. In an April 2025 Public Interest Litigation hearing, the court directed the government to amend the 2022 draft regulation within three months, stating that food packets carry no meaningful information and raising specific concern over products like Kurkure and Maggi.

In July 2026, ICMR-NIN's Let's Fix Our Food Consortium released a comprehensive policy framework. The consortium called for front-of-pack warning labels on packaged foods, healthier school canteens, restrictions on junk food advertising, taxes on unhealthy foods, mandatory nutrition education, and greater physical activity within schools. The consortium includes UNICEF India, the Public Health Foundation of India, WHO, and FSSAI among its partners.

On the school administration side, action has also begun. The Central Board of Secondary Education announced an initiative to set up oil boards in all CBSE-affiliated schools, following an earlier directive to install sugar boards to raise awareness about excessive sugar intake and to prevent type 2 diabetes.

The Double Burden: India's Unique Challenge

One of the most important aspects of the HFSS debate in the Indian context is what researchers call the double burden of malnutrition. Childhood obesity in India is rising alongside a global increase, creating a situation where undernutrition coexists with growing overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Recent national surveys and meta-analyses indicate that 9 to 12 per cent of Indian children and adolescents are obese or overweight.

This coexistence complicates the policy response. School feeding programmes such as PM POSHAN, designed to address undernutrition, now operate in a landscape where a significant proportion of urban children face the opposite problem. The food environment is moving faster than the policy framework.

The World Obesity Federation estimates that obesity-related costs in India were nearly 29 billion USD, or 1 per cent of GDP, in 2019, with projections suggesting this figure could reach 839 billion USD by 2060 unless urgent measures are taken. Unhealthy diets are now identified as the leading contributor to India's disease burden, accounting for 56 per cent of it according to ICMR-NIN's 2024 report.

The economic argument for early intervention in schools is therefore not just a health argument. It is a fiscal argument that affects the country's long-term productivity and healthcare spending.

Barriers to Implementation: Why Rules Alone Are Not Enough

Experts across the field acknowledge that strong regulations are necessary but not sufficient. Several structural challenges continue to undermine progress:

• Enforcement gaps: The 50-metre rule under the 2020 regulations has been difficult to enforce uniformly across the thousands of government and private schools spread across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
• Affordability: HFSS foods remain significantly cheaper than healthier alternatives for most school-going children, particularly in government schools. Snack vendors outside school gates fill a real economic niche.
• Industry resistance: Public health experts have argued that the food industry's arguments against stricter regulations are reminiscent of tobacco industry tactics, delaying regulation while health risks continue to mount.
• Lack of a universal definition: Until FSSAI finalises the 2026 draft thresholds, the absence of a legally enforceable HFSS definition continues to hamper consistent action.
• Awareness gap among parents: Many parents remain unaware of what specific nutrients their children consume in school canteens or from vendors, partly because labelling on packaged foods remains inadequate.

The Road Ahead: What Needs to Change

The convergence of evidence, judicial attention, regulatory drafting, and expert consensus in 2025 and 2026 represents a genuine policy inflection point for HFSS food governance in Indian schools. Several changes appear both necessary and increasingly possible.

A legally enforceable HFSS definition, which FSSAI's 2026 draft proposes, would give authorities a clear and objective basis for enforcement decisions. Front-of-pack warning labels, if mandated, would extend awareness beyond school canteens and into households, helping parents make more informed purchasing decisions. Advertising restrictions that specifically limit the targeting of children through digital platforms and television would address the marketing dimension that drives demand.

The Let's Fix Our Food Consortium has already launched practical tools for classrooms, including the NEAT-S audit system for schools and an interactive digital literacy platform that teaches adolescents to read food labels. ICMR-NIN has also developed comic books designed to help teenagers identify hidden sodium and unhealthy fats in their favourite snacks in an accessible format.

These initiatives signal that the response is not limited to regulation. Education, environment design, and consumer literacy must all advance together. Schools that redesign canteen menus, train cafeteria staff, and integrate nutrition literacy into the curriculum are already seeing results, though such examples remain scattered and need systemic replication across states.

Conclusion

The HFSS food debate in Indian schools reflects a wider truth about public health in a rapidly urbanising country: the food environment shapes children's health before any individual choice is made. India has regulatory foundations in place through FSSAI's 2020 school food regulations, and the 2026 draft amendment marks a significant step toward giving those regulations the definitional precision they need. The consistent message from public health experts, nutritionists, judicial bodies, and institutions such as ICMR-NIN is that stronger rules, clearly defined thresholds, honest food labelling, and meaningful enforcement are all non-negotiable.

What happens at the school gate and in the school canteen matters enormously. With 41 million children already living with overweight or obesity, and with India projected to carry more than 11 per cent of the global childhood obesity burden by 2030, the cost of continued delay is not abstract. It is measurable, preventable, and entirely within the reach of decisive public health action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What does HFSS stand for and why does it matter for Indian schools?

HFSS stands for High Fat, Sugar, and Salt. It refers to foods that exceed recommended thresholds for these three nutrients, as defined by ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024. These foods are energy-dense and low in nutrients, making them a major driver of childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases. Their widespread availability in and around Indian schools directly shapes what children eat on a daily basis, which is why regulating them in school environments has become a public health priority.

Q2: What are FSSAI's current regulations on HFSS food in schools?

FSSAI introduced the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations in 2020. These restrict the sale of foods high in fat, sugar, or sodium on school premises and within 50 metres of school gates. In August 2026, FSSAI released a draft amendment proposing specific numerical thresholds to define HFSS foods more precisely, with a solid food classified as high in added fat if it contains more than 4.2 grams per 100 grams. These thresholds are currently under stakeholder review.

Q3: How many children in India are affected by overweight and obesity?

According to the World Obesity Atlas 2026, approximately 41 million children aged 5 to 19 years in India are currently living with overweight or obesity. If present trends continue, India is projected to account for more than 11 per cent of the global childhood obesity burden by 2030. Unhealthy diets, including regular consumption of HFSS foods, are identified as a primary contributing factor.

Q4: What are public health experts in India calling for to address this problem?

India's public health community, including institutions such as PHFI, CSE, IPHA, ICMR-NIN, and UNICEF India, has called for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on HFSS products, clearer HFSS definitions, stricter school canteen standards, restrictions on advertising targeting children, health taxes on junk food, and compulsory nutrition education in schools. Twenty-nine organisations endorsed a formal consensus statement on front-of-pack warning labels in 2025.

Q5: What role does CBSE play in promoting healthier food habits in schools?

CBSE has issued directives to affiliated schools to install sugar boards and oil boards in common areas such as cafeterias and lobbies. These awareness boards are designed to sensitise students and staff about the health risks of excessive sugar and oil consumption. The initiative is part of a broader effort by educational authorities to make school environments more health-promoting in response to rising obesity rates among urban school-going children.

Resources

1. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI): Official regulatory body governing school food standards and the proposed HFSS threshold regulations in India.
2. Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN): Source of the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 and the Let's Fix Our Food policy framework on childhood nutrition.
3. World Health Organization India Country Office (WHO India): International public health body providing guidance on childhood obesity prevention and HFSS food marketing restrictions.
4. UNICEF India: Co-lead of the Let's Fix Our Food Consortium and publisher of the Child Nutrition Global Report 2025 cited in India's childhood obesity discourse.
5. Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi): National think tank that coordinated the 2025 consensus statement on front-of-pack warning labels on HFSS products, endorsed by 29 organisations.

Interlinking Keywords

HFSS food India, junk food school canteen, FSSAI school food regulations, childhood obesity India, front-of-pack nutrition labelling, unhealthy food children, Eat Right Schools India, school canteen policy, ultra-processed food children, ICMR dietary guidelines, NCD prevention children, food labelling India

Last medically reviewed by:

Dr. Manthan Tripathi, Medicircle Editorial and Medical Advisory Team on 22, September 2026.

Disclaimer

This article is intended for general public awareness and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information presented is based on publicly available research, regulatory notifications, and expert statements current at the time of publication. Readers are advised to consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised medical guidance. Medicircle does not endorse any specific food product, brand, or commercial entity mentioned in the context of regulatory or research discussions.