The Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a leading independent think tank, found that Indians form a massive chunk of the one in three adults now overweight or obese, adding up to 1.46 billion across the world.
For its report titled "Future Diets", London-based ODI selected five middle-income countries - India, China, Egypt, Peru and Thailand - as case studies to illustrate dietary trends in the developing world over the past 50 years.
The percentage of obese and overweight in India rose from about 9 per cent of the population in 1980 to 11 per cent in 2008.
"India's consumption of animal products is approaching that of China's in terms of its contribution to the average plate, but here the increase is almost entirely in milk consumption, with only limited increases for meat," the report said.
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"Many Indians are vegetarian, avoiding beef or pork for cultural and religious reasons. The consumption of pulses remains relatively high in India, although it has been on the decline."
According to the ODI analysis: "Policies to improve diets have been rather timid, with some significant exceptions such as the public distribution system of India or rationing in wartime UK.
"Politicians are fearful of meddling with diets and alienating farming and food industry interests. It seems that this reflects public opinion, with many stakeholders seeing food choices as matters of personal freedom."
It stressed that decisive government intervention will become an inevitability in future to encourage people to eat healthier.