Chapter 3 Additional World Health Assembly Nutrition Indicators
3.1 ADULT OBESITY
Obesity among adults is a risk factor for many non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Obesity among adults 18 years and above increased in all countries between 2000 and 2016.The prevalence increased from 2.6 percent in 2000 to 6.1 percent in 2016 (Table 9). Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) had the highest prevalence of adult obesity, with 23.6 percent, followed by South-eastern Asia (6.7 percent), Eastern Asia (6 percent) and Southern Asia (5.4 percent).
TABLE 9.
Prevalence of obesity among adults (percent)
2000
2005
2010
2014
2015
2016
World
8.7
9.9
11.2
12.5
12.8
13.1
Asia and the Pacific
2.6
3.4
4.5
5.5
5.8
6.1
Eastern Asia
2.4
3.2
4.3
5.4
5.7
6.0
Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand
15.6
17.8
20.2
22.4
23.0
23.6
South-eastern Asia
2.7
3.6
4.8
6.0
6.4
6.7
Southern Asia
2.5
3.2
4.1
4.9
5.2
5.4
Note: Please refer to Annex IV for the country coverage of this report. In particular, Central Asia and Western Asia are not included. Source: WHO. 2020. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data repository. In: World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. Cited 28 April 2020. https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en
By 2016, the prevalence of obesity was above 45 percent in ten countries: the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu (Figure 8). The lowest is 21 percent in Papua New Guinea and the highest is 61 percent in Nauru. These countries face growing challenges to meet SDG 3 target 3.4 to reduce premature mortality from NCDs.
FIGURE 8.
Prevalence of obesity among adults in Asia and the Pacific by country
Note: Please refer to Annex IV for the country coverage of this report. In particular, Central Asia and Western Asia are not included. Source: WHO. 2020. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data repository. In: World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. Cited 28 April 2020. https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en https://doi.org/10.4060/CC3843EN-fig08
