OH! Magazine - Australian Version August 2016 | Page 13

DR
JOANNA

trends in adult (aged 18 years and older)
BMI between 1975 and 2014. For the
first time, this includes the proportion of
individuals classified as underweight
(less than 18.5kg/m²), and severely
obese (35kg/m² or higher) and morbidly
obese (40kg/m² or higher).
The Non-Communicable Disease (NCD)
Risk Factor Collaboration pooled data
from 1698 population-based studies,
surveys, and reports totalling 19.2
million men and women aged 18 years
or older from 186 countries (covering 99
per cent of the world’s population).
Studies were only included if height and
weight had been measured to avoid the
bias arising from self-reported data. The
research team used this data with
statistical modelling, to calculate
average BMI and the prevalence of BMI
categories like underweight, obesity, and
severe obesity for all countries and years
between 1975 and 2014. They found
that rates of obesity surpassed those of
underweight in women in 2004 and in
men in 2011.

•

Island nations in Polynesia and
Micronesia have the highest average
BMI in the world reaching 34.8 kg/
m² for women and 32.2 kg/m² for
men in American Samoa. In
Polynesia and Micronesia more than
38 per cent of men and over half of
women are obese.

•

Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Eritrea
have the lowest average BMI in the
world. Timor-Leste was the lowest at
20.8kg/m² for women and Ethiopia
the lowest at 20.1kg/m² for men.

•

More than one fifth of men in India,
Bangladesh, Timor-Leste,
Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia,
and a quarter or more of women in
Bangladesh and India are still
underweight.

•

Some of the highlights from the country
to country data include:
•
•

Women in Singapore, Japan, and a
few European countries including
Czech Republic, Belgium, France,
and Switzerland had virtually no
increase in average BMI (less than
0.2kg/m² per decade) over the 40
years.

Among high-income Englishspeaking countries, the USA has the
highest BMI for both men and
women (over 28kg/m²). In the USA
more than one in four men and
almost one in five women are
severely obese.
Men in Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta
(27.8kg/m²), and women in Moldova
(27.3kg/m²) have the highest
average BMI in Europe. Bosnian and
Dutch men (both around 25.9kg/m²)
and Swiss women (23.7kg/m²) have
the lowest average BMI in Europe.

•

The UK has the third highest
average BMI in Europe for women
equal to Ireland and the Russian
Federation (all around 27.0kg/m²)
and tenth highest for men along
with Greece, Hungary, and Lithuania
(all around 27.4kg/m²).

•

Almost a fifth of the world’s obese
adults (118 million) live in just six
high-income English-speaking
countries – Australia, Canada,
Ireland, New Zealand, UK and USA.
Over a quarter (27.1 per cent / 50
million) of the world’s severely obese
people also live in these countries.

By 2025, the UK is projected to have
the highest levels of obese women in
Europe (38 per cent), followed by Ireland
(37 per cent) and Malta (34 per cent).
Similar trends are projected in men, with
Ireland and the UK again showing the
greatest proportion (both around 38 per
cent), followed Lithuania (36 per cent).
By comparison, 43 per cent of US
women and 45 per cent of US men are
predicted to be obese in 2025.
For more information about the global
obesity situation visit www.ncdrisc.org

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AUGUST 2016 (OH! MAGAZINE)

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