Chapter 3 Additional World Health Assembly Nutrition Indicators

Key messages
  • Regional and subregional data show that the prevalence of adult obesity increased from 2000 to 2016, with Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) showing the steepest upward trend over this 16-year period.
  • Nearly all subregions in Asia and the Pacific region have made progress with increasing prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life from 2012 to 2021. Of the subregions, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) and Southern Asia already achieved the WHA target of at least 50 percent prevalence, while the region as a whole also achieved the WHA target in 2021.
  • The region had a 17.8 percent prevalence of low birthweight babies, which is higher than the world’s average of 14.6 percent in 2020. By subregion, Southern Asia had the highest prevalence of low birthweight (24.4 percent) followed by Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) at 17.9 percent (similar to the regional prevalence).