National, regional, and global trends in adult overweight and obesity prevalences

Abstract

BackgroundOverweight and obesity prevalence are commonly used for public and policy communication of the extent of the obesity epidemic, yet comparable estimates of trends in overweight and obesity prevalence by country are not available.MethodsWe estimated trends between 1980 and 2008 in overweight and obesity prevalence and their uncertainty for adults 20 years of age and older in 199 countries and territories. Data were from a previous study, which used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mean body mass index (BMI) based on published and unpublished health examination surveys and epidemiologic studies. Here, we used the estimated mean BMIs in a regression model to predict overweight and obesity prevalence by age, country, year, and sex. The uncertainty of the estimates included both those of the Bayesian hierarchical model and the uncertainty due to cross-walking from mean BMI to overweight and obesity prevalence.ResultsThe global age-standardized prevalence of obesity nearly doubled from 6.4% (95% uncertainty interval 5.7-7.2%) in 1980 to 12.0% (11.5-12.5%) in 2008. Half of this rise occurred in the 20 years between 1980 and 2000, and half occurred in the 8 years between 2000 and 2008. The age-standardized prevalence of overweight increased from 24.6% (22.7-26.7%) to 34.4% (33.2-35.5%) during the same 28-year period. In 2008, female obesity prevalence ranged from 1.4% (0.7-2.2%) in Bangladesh and 1.5% (0.9-2.4%) in Madagascar to 70.4% (61.9-78.9%) in Tonga and 74.8% (66.7-82.1%) in Nauru. Male obesity was below 1% in Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia, and was highest in Cook Islands (60.1%, 52.6-67.6%) and Nauru (67.9%, 60.5-75.0%).ConclusionsGlobally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased since 1980, and the increase has accelerated. Although obesity increased in most countries, levels and trends varied substantially. These data on trends in overweight and obesity may be used to set targets for obesity prevalence as requested at the United Nations high-level meeting on Prevention and Control of NCDs.

Association of Oral Fat Sensitivity with Body Mass Index, Taste Preference, and Eating Habits in Healthy Japanese Young Adults

“…However, the risks of obesityrelated health complications have already reached an unprecedented global high, because of the substantially increased prevalence of obesity for decades (Finucane et al 2011;Stevens et al 2012). Although the prevalence of obesity in Japan is still lower than that of the global average at present, that the prevalence of overweight and obesity has been increasing over the last several decades in Japan, especially among men, should not be overlooked (Nagai et al 2015;Ri et al 2015).…”

Agricultural Transformation, Nutrition Transition and Food Policy in Africa: Preston Curves Reveal New Stylised Facts

“…Stunting results from deprivation in infancy and is rarely reversed, while obesity results from later weight gain, so the two forms of malnutrition often coexist in the same people. Shifts in overweight and obesity by region are shown in Stevens et al (2012), and changes in specific dietary risk factors are linked to their overall burden of disease in Lim et al (2013). …”

Gender differences in sociodemographic and behavioural factors associated with BMI in an adult population in rural Burkina Faso – an AWI-Gen sub-study

“…By 2014, it was estimated that approximately a billion adults were overweight and that 600 million were obese worldwide [8]. Within SSA, the prevalence of obesity has been increasing over the past 30 years with regional disparities [9]. Whereas most hypotheses emphasise the role of urbanization and a westernization of lifestyles as the main causes of the rising prevalence of obesity in some parts of SSA [10–12], little reliable data have been collected to explain the trends at national or regional levels.…”