Worldwide Obesity Statistics

Bmi values are used to define whether an individual is considered to be underweight healthy overweight or obese.

Worldwide obesity statistics. The world health organization define bmi as. World obesity population. However obesity in low and middle income countries is on the rise especially in urban areas. Modern diets and lifestyles are so unhealthy that the rate of obesity in children doesn t come as a surprise.

It is estimated now that most of the world s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. This is a list of countries ranked by the proportion of the population that is obese the data is derived from the world factbook authored by the central intelligence agency which gives the adult prevalence rate for obesity defined as the percent of a country s population considered to be obese. Once considered a high income country problem overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low and middle income countries particularly in urban settings. A person with a bmi of 30 or more is generally considered obese.

Obesity is linked to many health complications and diseases such as diabetes heart disease certain types of cancer and stroke. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index bmi a person s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in metres. Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Additionally obesity is the leading preventable cause of preventable death.

The worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016. Childhood obesity statistics that need to change fast 15. Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975 with about 13 of adults being obese and about 39 of adults being overweight. There are also about 125 million obese children and adolescents in the entire world according to a bmi over 30.

The majority of the obesity on the planet resides in a few countries in fact the top 10 countries contribute half the entire world s obesity. At the world obesity federation we have been collating data for over 20 years. Who worldwide childhood obesity facts are not any more comforting than those for adults. This database is online and available to view in various formats.

Global historically experts have obesity to be a problem in high income countries. In 2016 there were over 41 million overweight preschool children. Obesity is most commonly measured using the body mass index bmi scale.