Can India curb childhood obesity by banning junk food near schools?

The proposal will not be effective on its own, parents and experts say, calling for more comprehensive measures

Her children, aged 14 and 10, are national-level skaters and have grown up on home-cooked food and drinks such as coconut water rather than fizzy drinks and crisps.

Yet Singh, who lives in Noida in the National Capital Region, sees sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks everywhere from school surroundings to sports events.

“When my children started going to school, we would see really obese children around and it would really scare us,” she said.