Obesity in New Zealand New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD, and our rates continue to increase. One in three adult New Zealanders (over 15 years) is classified as obese, and one in ten children.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the most obese countries are primarily located in the Pacific and the Middle East. The Pacific island nations of Nauru, Cook Islands, and Palau have the highest rates of obesity, with over 30% of their populations being classified as obese.
Birth factors such as maternal smoking and poor nutrition. Socioeconomic factors such as having lower levels of education and income.
The most obese country by percentage of obese adults is Nauru, with 61% of adults falling in the obese category. Cook Islands fllows with 55.9%, and Palau just under that at 55.3%. Three other countries have adult populations that are over 50% obese: the Marshall Islands (52.9%), Tuvalu (51.6%), and Niue (50%).
In 2017-18, two thirds (67.0%) of Australians 18 years and over were overweight or obese. Slightly more than a third (35.6%) were overweight and slightly less than a third were obese (31.3%). Just under one third (31.7%) were within the healthy weight range and one percent (1.3%) were underweight.
Nutrient transmission (change in diet) is the primary cause of the obesity epidemic in the Pacific Islands, with a high amount of imported foods high in salt and fat content grow.
Global Obesity Levels
Vietnam is the least obese country with 2.1% of the population classified as obese. Among OECD countries, the United States is the most obese (36.2%).
Food prices are substantially higher in Japan, but the traditional Japanese dietary habits, although changing, are also healthier. The Japanese are also far more physically active than Americans, but not because they do more planned physical exercise. They walk more as part of their daily lives.
New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD, and our rates continue to increase. One in three adult New Zealanders (over 15 years) is classified as obese, and one in ten children. For the most recent obesity figures for adults and children in New Zealand see the Obesity data and stats section.
Recent evidence has shown this to be the case with the discovery of a variant in the CREBRF gene found in approximately 25% of Maori and Pacific peoples which is associated with a significant increase in BMI (1.4 BMI units/allele).
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' National Health Survey from 2017–18 revealed that 67 per cent of Australian adults were overweight or obese (12.5 million people), an increase from 63.4 per cent since 2014-15. If the current trend continues, more than 18 million Australians will be overweight or obese by 2030.
Recent data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that over an estimated 8.1% of Chinese adults (85 million Chinese adults) had obesity in 2018, which was three times the level in 2004.
The obesity risk in Vietnam could be low due to factors such as the local cuisine which are mostly organic with a low percentage of oil.
Prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 30) in Japanese adults (aged 20 years and over) was 3.8% in males and 3.2% in females (National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2010), being quite low compared with other countries listed in the Global Database on Body Mass Index (WHO).
India, Indonesia and South Korea, where people eat the least amount of fat, consume 10 grams, 15.5 grams, and just over 20 grams per capita, respectively.
Obesity in women can be attributed to childbirth, vulnerability to certain diseases, and household roles, experts say.
In 2017, the obesity rate increased to 28.1% among men and 32.1% among women. In 2021, it was 30.1% among men and 36.7% among women. Russians' diet is characterized by a low presence of plant products, in particular, vegetables, fruits and cereals, and an extremely low daily consumption of legumes, Drapkina said.
In addition, Aboriginal people, specifically, contend with the loss of traditional lands, and poor dietary behaviours due to the transition from traditional to Western diets as a result of colonisation. There are very few national policies and guidelines for obesity prevention and treatment for Australian children.
Remarkably, this gene—which appears in a quarter of all Samoans—may have arisen in the population as they colonized the South Pacific. As described in the latest edition of Nature Genetics, this “thrifty” genetic variant, called CREBRF, is associated with a 1.5 percent increase in Body Mass Index (BMI).
A 2014 survey on Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHPI) revealed that Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander sub-populations had higher obesity rates than both Asian Americans and white Americans. In 2014, Samoans were 5.6 times more likely to be obese as compared to the overall Asian American population.
Tasmania had the highest proportion of men overweight or obese (76.7%) while Australian Capital Territory had the lowest (70.5%).
Australia is ranked fifth for obesity, with wider waistlines than countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, but slimmer than Hungary, New Zealand, Mexico and the United States, which has an obesity rate of 38.2 per cent.
Australian adults by weight status
In 2017-18, 67.0% of Australians aged 18 years and over were overweight or obese, comprised of 35.6% overweight and 31.3% obese. A further 31.7% were of normal weight and 1.3% were underweight. Australian Bureau of Statistics.