Overweight and obesity are defined as above normal body weight for height as a result of excessive fat accumulation. In children under 5 years of age, overweight is defined as weight-for-height greater than two standard deviations above the median established by the WHO Child Growth Standards, while obesity is defined as a weight-for-height greater than three standard deviations above the median (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2022).
Overweight and obesity are complex and multifaceted problems. Although genetic factors can increase an individual's predisposition to being overweight, these alone cannot explain population-level increases over time. Intrauterine growth, infant feeding, and eating habits during early childhood are significant determinants of childhood overweight, which, in turn, increase the risk of obesity in adulthood. Other key risk factors for overweight and obesity include an increased availability and intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fats and/or sugars, poor dietary practices, and a decrease in physical activity. Children with overweight also have an increased risk of non-communicable diseases later in life (WHO, 2014b; FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2019).
Globally, in 2022, overweight affected 5.6 percent of children under 5 years of age, while in Latin America and the Caribbean the prevalence was 8.6 percent, which is 3 percentage points above the world estimate. In addition, overweight among children under 5 years of age in the region has been increasing faster than the world estimate. Between 2012 and 2022, the increase in the region was 1.2 percentage points, while the prevalence in the world rose by only 0.1 percentage point. Between 2020 and 2022, although overweight among children under 5 years of age did not change at the global level, in the region it increased from 8.3 to 8.6 percent, with the greatest increase seen in South America (0.4 percentage point), while the prevalence increased slightly in Mesoamerica (0.2 percentage point) and remained stable in the Caribbean.
In 2022, there were a total of 4.2 million overweight children under 5 years of age in the region, of which 3 million were in South America, 1 million in Mesoamerica, and 200 000 in the Caribbean (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2023).
FIGURE 14 illustrates the regional trend, which was driven by South America. In this subregion, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age in 2022 was 9.7 percent, up 1.8 percentage points compared to 2012. On the other hand, in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, the increase was 0.1 percentage point in the same period, with a prevalence of 6.7 and 6.6 percent, respectively.
The WHA 2025 target seeks to avoid increasing the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age, and the SDG 2030 target aims to reduce and maintain it below 3 percent. To achieve this, it is necessary to reverse the trend in the region. It should be noted that Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region where no country is on track to achieve the SDG 2030 target. More than 50 percent of the countries in the region have not made progress, and almost 25 percent showed higher levels of overweight compared to 2012, with only two countries having made any significant progress, although not enough to reach the 2030 target (UNICEF, WHO and World Bank, 2023).
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2012 | 2015 | 2020 | 2022 | |
| World | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 6.8 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.6 |
| Caribbean | 6.1 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Mesoamerica | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.7 |
| South America | 6.9 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 9.7 |
In the last two decades, the prevalence of overweight among children under 5 years of age in the region has been worsening and there are several countries that have shown significant increases in the prevalence since 2000. In particular, Trinidad and Tobago stood out with an increase of 8.3 percentage points, followed by Ecuador with 8.1 percentage points, and Paraguay with 7.8 percentage points. In addition, in Brazil and Barbados the prevalence increased by 4.1 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively (FIGURE 15).9 9 See Table 24 in Annex I.
By contrast, between 2000 and 2022, a considerable reduction has been observed in Belize and Chile, where the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age fell by 6 and 2.7 percentage points, respectively. Additionally, in Guatemala the prevalence was reduced by 1.4 percentage points, while in Jamaica, Peru, Mexico and Saint Lucia the prevalence decreased between 0.6 and 0.4 percentage point.
Between 2020 and 2022, overweight among children under 5 years of age increased in Ecuador (0.9 percentage point), Paraguay (0.8 percentage point), Peru and Uruguay (0.7 percentage point), and Argentina and Brazil (0.6 percentage point). On the other hand, countries like Belize, Guyana and Jamaica showed a reduction in this indicator of between 0.3 and 0.4 percentage point (TABLE 24).
Some of the countries with the highest prevalence of overweight among children in 2022 were Paraguay (14.6 percent), Trinidad and Tobago (13.9 percent), Argentina (12.6 percent), Barbados (12.5 percent), Ecuador (11.9 percent) and Uruguay (11.5 percent). Although there are few countries in the region that have shown progress, there are some where the prevalence is below the world estimate, including Haiti (3.7 percent), Suriname (3.8 percent), Honduras (4.7 percent), Guatemala (4.8 percent), Guyana (5.7 percent) and Jamaica (5.7 percent).
It is worth noting that all three subregions were above the world estimate of 5.6 percent and none of them are on track to achieve the SDG target. Furthermore, persistent increases in this indicator have been observed since 2000 in both South America and the Caribbean. As for Mesoamerica, although the prevalence showed a downward trend in the 2000–2020 period, it increased slightly in 2022.
