Chapter 3 Additional World Health Assembly Nutrition Indicators

Key messages
  • The prevalence of obesity among adults (18 years and older) in the Arab States was 32.1 percent in 2022, more than double the global prevalence of 15.8 percent. Upper-middle-income countries have the highest prevalence of adult obesity (33.8 percent) compared to the other country income groups.
  • In addition, the increase in the prevalence of obesity is showing an alarming trend in Arab countries in all country income groups.
  • In 2022, Egypt had the highest prevalence of adult obesity (44.3 percent), followed by Qatar (43.1 percent) and Kuwait (41.4 percent). Djibouti had the lowest prevalence (11.3 percent), in addition to Yemen (13.7 percent) and Somalia (14.6 percent).
  • The prevalence of low birthweight was lower in the Arab States (13.3 percent) compared to the global average (14.7 percent) in 2020.
  • This section assesses progress towards three additional World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed global nutrition targets.