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Health Statistics > Obesity (most recent) by country

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Showing latest available data.
Rank   Countries  Amount 
# 1     United States: 30.6% 
# 2     Mexico: 24.2% 
# 3     United Kingdom: 23% 
# 4     Slovakia: 22.4% 
# 5     Greece: 21.9% 
# 6     Australia: 21.7% 
# 7     New Zealand: 20.9% 
# 8     Hungary: 18.8% 
# 9     Luxembourg: 18.4% 
# 10     Czech Republic: 14.8% 
# 11     Canada: 14.3% 
# 12     Spain: 13.1% 
# 13     Ireland: 13% 
# 14     Germany: 12.9% 
= 15     Portugal: 12.8% 
= 15     Finland: 12.8% 
# 17     Iceland: 12.4% 
# 18     Turkey: 12% 
# 19     Belgium: 11.7% 
# 20     Netherlands: 10% 
# 21     Sweden: 9.7% 
# 22     Denmark: 9.5% 
# 23     France: 9.4% 
# 24     Austria: 9.1% 
# 25     Italy: 8.5% 
# 26     Norway: 8.3% 
# 27     Switzerland: 7.7% 
= 28     Korea, South: 3.2% 
= 28     Japan: 3.2% 
Weighted average: 14.1%  



DEFINITION: Percentage of total population who have a BMI (body mass index) greater than 30 Kg/sq.meters (Data for Australia, Austria and Portugal is from 2002. All other data is from 2003). Obesity rates are defined as the percentage of the population with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. The BMI is a single number that evaluates an individual's weight status in relation to height (weight/height2, with weight in kilograms and height in metres). For Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, figures are based on health examinations, rather than self-reported information. Obesity estimates derived from health examinations are generally higher and more reliable than those coming from self-reports, because they preclude any misreporting of people's height and weight. However, health examinations are only conducted regularly in a few countries (OECD).

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CITATION

"Obesity by country", OECD Health Data 2005. Retrieved from http://www.NationMaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

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COMMENTARY     

John Cena
11th March 2012
Thanks for above information. In any country obesity is a general problem. Many doctor prescribe Generic rimonabant(acomplia)for weight loss purpose. If you take this medicine and do some small exercise daily. It’s beneficial to your health.
Daria
21st January 2012
Obesity is an excess proportion of total body fat. A person is considered obese when his or her weight is 20% or more above normal weight. The most common measure of obesity is the body mass index or BMI. A person is considered overweight if his or her BMI is between 25 and 29.9; a person is considered obese if his or her BMI is over 30.

"Morbid obesity" means that a person is either 50%-100% over normal weight, more than 100 pounds over normal weight, has a BMI of 40 or higher, or is sufficiently overweight to severely interfere with health or normal function.

Learn more at Triumph Grudnjaci or www.webmd.com/diet
wawa
16th January 2012
take a balanced diet to prevent obesity!!!
balanced diet also give you;
1.healthy skin that can enhance your confidence level
2.produce mental relaxing to prevent stress
3.prevention from diet disease to live longer
4.burst up energy level for everyday used
5.give a better and quality sleep for a sweet dreams:D
6.nice s-line.. agagagaga>>>
anyway, balanced diet is super duper good and give many benefits, though almost all human being in this world know, but only a few take action to it...
SAY YES TO BALANCED DIET!!!!
Stan Jacox
7th January 2012
I see a very great difference between countries, actually societies, in how food and activity is related and fit into daily life. I am an American and know all too well that a great many people are overweight and heard the million excuses and knew many people who tried dieting with one fad diet after another. But distribution of fitness varies radically by region and even towns. Seemingly unrelated to regional differences is income. Generally speaking excess weight does occur at higher, a lot higher rates with inverse of income.
When I travel, now I live in Russia, the biggest factor is age where people of both sexes tend to be slim or normal until after 40. It is very rare rare to see an obese child.
I am also seeing a change, that seems to align with change in lifestyles. In the last 10 years the number of meals eaten away from home has increased dramatically particularly for young adults who tend to live in coffee shops, sushi cafes, pubs and fast food places, none of which really existed 10 years ago. There has been a great increase in the number of cars and a reduction in walking but not to the extent as in the US where many regions are just impossible to live in without driving a great deal and walking very little.
I have noticed a steady, but modest increase in weight with teens and young adults in the last few years in Russia.
So we have a situation where a large mass of people have gone from home cooking, a great deal of walking daily, to a much more sedentary life, and western style fast food. The increase is visible but not even close to the increase in weight seen in young children or teens in the US. When I was in high school in the 60s, we had one fat boy in a class of 3,000. His was likely organic because he tried very hard with daily exercise in PE and a special lot fat meal at lunch and at home, no fast food was allowed in his home.
Visiting the same neighborhood is shocking where 50% are overweight, with many 14 year old kids obese. There is no PE program anymore so most kids get no exercise at all.
A study that analyzed food production, minus waste, plus food importing into the US a couple years ago and divided that mass of food, without regard to type of food, by the population for a per capita consumption and projected the weight that would result based on common models and found that the mass of food was enough to account for the average weight of the country regardless if it came in the form of fast food or unprocessed natural foods.
Portion size in fast food outlets probably are more responsible than quality of food, portions in restaurant are really too big in the US. The finer the restaurant, however, tend to have smaller portions, and lighter patrons.
The US problem with declining health and fitness of young people compared to 40-75 years ago is a serious problem, because later life health problems are closely related fitness in teen years. Weight added, by women after age 60 or so has very little impact on health, they tend to carry it well if added late. If added early in age it is a very negative indicator. Same with men.
It is a pleasure to socialize in much of Europe and Russia because of the high levels of education and people tend to be fit and well groomed which are traits that the US used to have decades ago, but no more.
G
23rd November 2011
@ Herp,
if you added all the european percentages together you would have to divided by the same number as all the percentages you added.
So it would mean the percentage would be way less than the US.

(Or i did not understand your comment)
Herp
23rd November 2011
Now add all of the European percentages together.
Penny in US
22nd November 2011
Is Mexico 2nd due to them coming here so much? The big surprise is that the Brits can get fat on food that tastes terrible.
Dawn
16th November 2011
Alex : of course India and China are not in this list, there are no obese people there, almost all of them have a "physical work", they can't get bigger this easily.
Lisa
15th November 2011
Is this present? and it's really schoking at how much Australia is near the top...
We should really reduce it :
Antifides
14th November 2011
@erin The obesity rate is 30%. That means the majority of EVERYONE in the United States is not obese. So assuming the distribution is even across all races, the majority of Mexicans would still not be obese, along with every other race/nationality.
American
14th November 2011
Of course the U.S is fat. Blame McDonalds and Burger King, not Wendy's, though. They aren't that bad in health.
erin
13th November 2011
@cody uhh...just walk around an area in the US where there a lot of mexicans or mexican americans...you'll notice that the majority of them are not obese. largely the obesity rate in america is due to white and black americans.
Alex
12th November 2011
Of the 200ish countries in the world, only 34 are currently members of the OECD. India and China aren't even on the list, which would be a huge % of the world population, so keep that in mind. This is basically only useful as a comparison of "Western" countries' health.

List of OECD countries here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Development#Member_countries
Jesus Christ
11th November 2011
It is all those blood sucking western countries loot other countries wealth and produce millions tons fat. Very fine list of shame and looting.
Martin
11th November 2011
The UK is one of the countries that generates the stats from doctor's exams, and health care is free to all legally resident in the UK. This might lead to over-reporting compared to countries where unhealthy, uninsured people would have to pay to see the doctor.
brian
8th November 2011
anyone got a source for all this information?
Rasheeq
8th November 2011
You know them Fat Americans u kno they so obnocious they always eating burgers they always holding shotguns
Kampinga
7th November 2011
@ Cody: If Mexico itself is #2 and America is #1 that means that the mexicans in America lower the average you smartass. If all mexicans leave the percentage will only grow.
@ d to the s: They just dont test all countries, these are the tested countries. This isnt even a Top30. Its just the 29 tested countries.
Erica.
3rd November 2011
It's not all McDonald's fault, we can choose to go there or not.
island Girl
3rd November 2011
It's all your fault Ronald McDonald.
Thanks
Precious
3rd November 2011
People in America eat anything. If it taste good they will eat and that's one of the reasons so many of the are fat...
Iris
1st November 2011
Cody that is so rude!!! There are so many fat WHITE people!!!!! You're probably one of them!!!
Jdog2020
31st October 2011
Usa is fat. there should be no more mcdonalds. there should be more subway!
eat fresh. eat fresh. eat fresh. eat fresh.
CS
30th October 2011
As usual hate mongers at work in this forum. There are not that many blacks in the U.S. to dominate any statistics, which is always biased. Blacks only make up 50% or more in two of the 50 states (DC) and one is simply a single town in GA (Atlanta). So when it comes to being more than anything (except being sent to prison more for the same crimes others get community service for), blacks do not lead in anything negative as most would like to believe and insinuate.
Cody
25th October 2011
Throw them mexicans back in Mexico and the U.S. is at the bottom
Jason
14th October 2011
BMI stats dont mean much anyway, if you only used peoples height/weight ratio's then most of the worlds athletes and sports peoples would be either obese or overweight.....
Lucia
11th October 2011
Cant see many fat people in Slovakia... In fact, most of the people i can see in the streets, or wherever, are skinny as hell.
Anon
28th September 2011
Please update with 2011 statistics!!!!!
JC
20th September 2011
Have you ever gone to a Walmart in the South? Lots of wide white assess!!!
bing bop
14th September 2011
Mexicans and blacks account for the majority of fat asses in the United States
Consider the Factor
11th September 2011
As stated in the article's definition: "health examinations are only conducted regularly in a few countries"

"ONLY CONDUCTED REGULARLY IN A FEW COUNTRIES"
d to the s
11th September 2011
22 of the top 30 countries are white?/
Why are those people so lazy?
kaq
3rd September 2011
Americans need to stop going to fast food places and committing gluttony and start hitting the gym those fat f****
Lukas
31st August 2011
AD Slovakia.
It can be real. If you live here (in Slovakia), just look around, how many people have a beer belly.

Obesity is not only about people, who can't walk because of body weight.

Just yesterday was in newspaper SME about more sport for school kids, because 18% kids is obese and other 7% is overweight
http://www.sme.sk/c/6036318/jurzyca-chce-opat-znamkovat-telocvik.html

And when they grow up, start going to work, they will have even less sport activity and that result in more obesity.

This numbers are 8 years old and this problem is growing. Now percents are for sure higher and maybe our position in this sad rank can be higher too.
Pralinka
26th August 2011
That´s amusing. Slovakia can´t be 4th. Good as a joke.
Neith74
26th August 2011
Slovakia on 4th place? I don't believe. I live there and I think it's not true..
asdfghjkl
24th August 2011
Is it really true that the US who has the most number of obese children? OUCH!! Anyways, so Philippines is not a part?


thanks lots!
Tamara Saskova
21st August 2011
I am from Slovakia. Its fake. Its not true.
Mark
17th August 2011
Do you map against diets (i.e. fish/meat) in any of these stats so we determine what's best to eat?
Mark
16th August 2011
That's right, obesity is highest among third-world populations. Blacks, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders are the most obese Americans.

Pacific Island nations are the most obese, Nauru is nearly 100% obese.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/fattest-place-earth-12533987
Lady
28th July 2011
Actually, obesity is highest among blacks. Generally, the poorer a person is, the fatter they are. They buy cheap food, and cheap food in the US makes you fat. All that HFCS and whatever the hell else they put in it. Poorer people are also more likely to eat fast food.
hyyrak
24th July 2011
It is not immigrant and minorities that have higher obesity rates in the US. Actually Whites have higher obesity rates than Asians if you look at a CDC report http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?rgn=1&cat;=2&ind;=91
and also immigrants tend to have lower obesity rates and better health outcomes in general and the length of residence in US actually is highly associated with increased BMI among recent immigrants. To blame obesity in the US to immigrants and minority is not correct.
Steve
22nd July 2011
The US has a the highest obesity rate due to the large immigrant and minority populations whose decisions on what foods to eat are dictated by their lower incomes. While diet and exercise maybe lower than in other countries that is changing based on increased educations and a new generation who is very much concerned about health and exercise. It is a shame that people look at these statistics and make a general claim about America. It is unfair to think that all Americans are fat. The obesity problem originates in the southern area of the country which has high numbers of immigrants and minorities.
I Am Skinny
18th July 2011
USA are Full Of Fattys, Its Unbelievable. A BIg Burger To Me Is A Pea To Them. And They Look Like If You Touch Them They'd Be Sticky!
/b/
18th July 2011
My /b/rothers brought me here.
TJ
10th July 2011
USA ARE FATTYS!
Obama
7th July 2011
USA #1
USA! USA! USA!
Hans
7th July 2011
Where is Nauru?
Brent
5th July 2011
I heard once that South Africa was the most obese nation?

Where is Africa in these statistics?
cuttingthroughthematrix.com
4th July 2011
It's the GMO food people. That's most certainly a contributing factor
Staff Editor
6th April 2011
Staff response to @nt, comment posted on 2011-03-30 09:52:15

Hi @nt. The data is from 2002 and 2003 and was collated in 2005.
@nt
29th March 2011
how recent are these stats? I am working on a project for one of my subjects, and need the most recent stats???
Steven Gordon
28th March 2011
I was obese - so much so I developed diabetes in my mid-40's. there are great regional differences and we have problems in this part of the west of Scotland. Alcohol and the eating patterns surrounding excessive consumption are also a factor. We seem to have a lot of very thin and very large people. I simply stopped drinking and ate cereal for breakfast and now 2 and a half years later am 4 stones lighter and it's easy to live with. Fad diets don't work. I lost 2-3 lbs a fortnight and over time people began to notice after a year or so. Go for small sustainable changes and the weight won't go back on in my experience. I have a real empathy with obese people and I know that a change in lifestyle really works.
Hemanth
2nd December 2010
Obesity is the root cause of most of the diseases like cardiac problems, diabetes, orthopedic disorders, hormonal imbalances and cancer. Medical-Recipe.com has launched a campaign to make people aware of BMI. All websites can link to their BMI calculator and make people aware of the consequences of having high BMI. It is a good initiative. All websites can link to their BMI calculator.
Details are in Http://Medical-Recipe.com/CalculateMyBmi.html
Xathos
23rd July 2010
Yep, America's #1 again. And, once again, that's really not a compliment.

Obesity is *bad*. Really, very bad; one out of every three individuals will cause, and is causing, problems for both healthcare and productivity. If this trend continues, future generations of Americans could be the first to have a shorter life expectancy rate than their predecessors. Seriously.

Obesity is really related to three major factors: Exercise, Stress, and Diet. There are others too, like one's metabolism, but those are the main three.

Poverty also plays a major role. Cheap food comes at high health costs. If one is forced to eat at McDonald's every day due to financial causes, what do you think will happen?

If you love fast food, eat there frequently, and drink lots of soda and other sweets, you will become fat. Obesity, diabetes, and other health problems are sure to follow. There are other factors that one must consider if one does *not* wish to gain weight (stress and anxiety, other dietary concerns, exercise, etc.), *but* frequent fast food outings and high soda consumption are practically guaranteed to cause obesity.
Tammy
15th June 2010
It’s no surprise that the United States is ranked #1. What is to be expected of people who don’t want the government regulating their diets and allowing agriculture industries to self-regulate? It boils down to the same thing: Money. If there is a profit to be made, American health is placed on the back burner. If somebody profits from selling refined and processed foods containing high fructose corn syrup that are also high in fat and sugar, so be it. Overeating of the before mentioned foods leads people to seek medical care because of their lifestyles. Again, it boils down to the money. It’s all about profit and this time, it’s for the health insurance companies and America’s health is again placed on the back burner. If we can’t regulate what we eat, how much we eat, and how much exercise we’re supposed to get, we need an intervention. Maybe our elected officials, those that we have chosen to run the country, need to do an intervention for our own good and the good of our country and its security. If we’re too fat to fight, what will happen next?
Nealoren
16th August 2009
Thanks for above information. In any country obesity is a general problem. Many doctor prescribe Generic rimonabant(acomplia)for weight loss purpose. If you take this medicine and do some small exercise daily. It’s beneficial to your health.
Oliver
16th October 2005
So where are the stats for the US??? It has the most overweight population in the world!
Edria Murray
Staff Editor

16th April 2005
In response to Trevor:

This statistic is not based on land area. The quantity being measured is BMI(body mass index). BMI is a method of comparing a persons weight and height. It is calculated from the formula:

BMI = Weight (KG) / Height squared (m^2)

So the m^2 is related to the persons height.

BMI is a widely used indicator of possible health risk as it relates to physical mass (how much space the human body actually takes up). A BMI of over 25 is associated with a higher risk of illness.

BMI does not take into account build, proportion of body fat, maturity level or other health factors (such as disease, genetic risk). Because of these limitations, BMI should not be the only indicator of a persons ideal weight.

Ian Graham
Staff Editor

14th April 2005
A study by Swedish researchers published in the British Medical Journal suggests that people with a waistline of 39.3 inches (100 centimeters) or more face a greater risk of developing insulin resistance. People who suffer from insulin resistance are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease.

Diabetes is caused by an imbalance of insulin, a hormone that stimulates the body’s cells into absorbing glucose from the blood. The researchers who conducted the study compared the size of people’s waists with other biological markers that are known predictors of insulin sensitivity, which often leads to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the cause of Type 2 diabetes, which makes up about 90 percent of all cases of diabetes and usually shows up in adults 40 years of age and older.

Diabetes can lead various heart and blood disorders that are responsible for about 50 to 80 percent of deaths of diabetics. Severe forms of the disease can lead to blindness, loss of limbs and kidney failure. In Type 2 diabetes, insulin is produced at insufficient levels or does not work efficiently, either because it is defective in some way or because the cells themselves have become resistant to it. The incidence of Type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically alongside obesity rates.

Ian Graham
Staff Editor

10th April 2005
A study commissioned by the California Department of Health and Human Services found that more than half of all the adults in that state are overweight.

Almost 53 percent of California residents over the age of 25 are overweight, and more than 17 percent are obese, according to the study. The rates among Hispanics, blacks and adults with less than a high school education exceed 60 percent and the state has one of the fastest increasing rates of adult obesity in the country.

Overweight and inactive people cost California $21.7 billion a year in medical bills, injuries and lost productivity, based on the study’s estimates.

The state’s governor, former bodybuilder and action movie star Arnold Shwarzenegger, wants junk food taken out of schools and vending machines stocked with fresh vegetables, milk and other healthy food.

Edria Murray
Staff editor

21st February 2005
Body mass index (BMI) is one indicator of ideal

body weight. It is calculated by comparing the

persons weight to their height squared.
A healthy person has a BMI of 18.5 to 25.

Obesity is a risk factor for chronic and often

fatal illness including
href=/graph/hea_hea_dis_dea>heart disease ,

cancer and

href=/graph/mor_uns_dia_mel>diabetes . In

some cases

href=/graph/mor_obe∫=-1>obesity itself is

the direct cause of death.
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