'Half-plate, full impact': Radhika Gupta's recipe to tackle obesity and food waste

Taking to social media platform X, she urged restaurants to start offering ‘half-plate’ options on their menu. According to her, this step can help people eat in moderation, reduce food wastage, and even boost restaurant revenues.

"I am glad we are talking about obesity as a problem so widely. It is critical," Gupta wrote. She said it’s good to see that obesity is finally being discussed seriously in the country.

"One basic suggestion I have for restaurants is to include half-portion options for all meals. Many people prefer eating less but end up finishing everything on the plate because we Indians don’t like wasting food,” she said.

“Sometimes sharing isn’t possible when you’re ordering alone. So why not price the half meals a little more than 50 per cent of the full portion, if that works financially? This would allow customers to eat less without wasting food or overspending," Gupta stated.

Radhika Gupta’s comments came shortly after Let’s Fix Our Food (LFOF) -- a group led by the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition -- raised concern over the poor food environment in India.

According to them, 24 per cent of adolescents in the country are underweight, while more than 1.7 crore children and teens are obese.

Her suggestion was welcomed by many social media users as obesity is a rising global concern in recent times.

According to recent studies published in ‘The Lancet’, over 3.8 billion people -- more than half of all adults worldwide -- could be overweight or obese by 2050.

In 2021, around 2.11 billion people were classified as overweight or obese, with India ranking second globally with 18 crore such people. China topped the list with over 40 crore obese individuals.