Being overweight or obese, determined in terms of body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m2 and ≥30 kg/m2, respectively, can have a serious impact on health. Raised BMI is a major risk factor for NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, and some cancers (e.g. endometrial, breast and colon). These conditions cause premature deaths and substantial disability.
One of the WHA global targets for the prevention and control of NCDs is to halt the rise in obesity. Global as well as regional and subregional data show that the prevalence of adult obesity is on the rise. The Asia and the Pacific region represented around 47 percent of the world’s obese adults in 2016. Among the subregions, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) showed a significant rise in adult obesity, from 15.6 percent in 2000 to 23.6 percent in 2016. As a region, the Asia and the Pacific region prevalence in 2016 grew by 43 percent when compared with 2000 (Figure 18 and Table 11).
TABLE 11.
Prevalence of obesity among adults (percent)
2000
2005
2010
2012
2014
2015
2016
World
8.7
9.9
11.2
11.8
12.5
12.8
13.1
Asia and the Pacific
2.5
3.3
4.4
5.0
5.6
5.9
6.2
Eastern Asia
2.4
3.2
4.3
4.9
5.4
5.7
6.0
Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand
15.6
17.8
20.2
21.3
22.4
23.0
23.6
South-eastern Asia
2.7
3.6
4.8
5.4
6.0
6.4
6.7
Southern Asia
2.5
3.2
4.1
4.5
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: Based on WHO. 2020. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data repository. In: WHO. [Cited 28 April 2020]. https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en
FIGURE 19.
Prevalence of obesity among adults in Asia and the Pacific by country and subregion
Disaggregating the data by country and subregions, as shown in Figure 19, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) had the highest prevalence of adult obesity in 2016. The majority of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high prevalence of obese adults, with Nauru having more than 60 percent adult obesity. The data give a clear indication that the countries in the region, particularly the Pacific SIDS, need to accelerate policy actions in order to curb the rise in adult obesity. Outside of Oceania, the Islamic Republic of Iran for Southern Asia, and Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia for South-eastern Asia recorded high prevalence of adult obesity when compared with other countries in the region.
