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Updated on: 10 Aug 2026, 3:28 am
BENGALURU: Childhood Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), once considered relatively uncommon in India, is increasingly being diagnosed among children, with specialists in Bengaluru reporting a noticeable rise in cases over the last decade
Doctors say the increase is likely a combination of a genuine rise in disease incidence and improved awareness, diagnosis and access to specialised care
At Smiles Institute of Gastroenterology, a 12% increase in childhood IBD cases has been recorded over the past six months, while 886 children have been diagnosed with the condition over the last five years. Dr CM Parameshwara, founder and CEO of the institute, said the changing dietary patterns, including increased consumption of ultra-processed foods, sugary beverages and packaged snacks, along with reduced physical activity, and changes in the gut microbiome, could be contributing to the trend.
Dr Lavenya RP, consultant, pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology, Rainbow Children’s Hospital, said paediatric IBD has increased significantly in India over the past two decades. Doctors are now also seeing very-early-onset IBD among children below six years
Rapid urbanisation, lifestyle changes, pollution and passive smoking could contribute to IBD among older children, she said, while improved diagnosis has also increased the number of cases being identified. Dr Shivakumar Sambargi, Head of Department and Senior Consultant, Paediatrics and Neonatology, Sakra World Hospital, said he has been seeing an increase in childhood IBD over the past five to 10 years, particularly among urban children. He said he encounters around three to four suspected childhood IBD cases a week.
Doctors cautioned parents against dismissing recurrent abdominal pain, unexplained diarrhoea, blood in stools, poor growth, weight loss or reduced appetite as routine stomach infections. Around 25% of IBD patients develop the condition before 18 years of age, shared doctors. While early adolescence is a commonly seen age group, IBD can occur even in infants and very young children
Doctors also welcomed Karnataka governments’s measures to improve children’s diets, including restrictions on the sale and promotion of junk food around schools, while emphasising healthier food choices and regular physical activity
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Childhood Inflammatory Bowel Disease
