Revealed: Top 10 Countries With The Highest Number Of Obese People

The GCC states are witnessing an alarming rise in obesity rates, with countries such as Kuwait and Qatar recording among the world’s highest adult female obesity rates.

Estimated prevalence of obesity among women in 2013 stood at 58.6 per cent in Kuwait (third highest in the world), and at 54.7 per cent in Qatar (sixth highest globally), according to a recent report by medical journal Lancet.

Adult obesity rates stand at double digits across all the six Gulf states, the report found.

Obesity rate in Kuwait: 43.4% (men) and 58.6% (women)

Obesity rate in Qatar: 44% (men) and 54.7% (women)

Obesity rate in Saudi Arabia: 30% (men) and 44.4% (women)

Obesity rate in Bahrain: 31% (men) and 42.9% (women)

Obesity rate in the UAE: 27.1% (men) and 33.2% (women)

Obesity rate in Oman: 20.6% (men) and 36.9% (women)

The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity in several countries has been described as a global pandemic, the report said. Worldwide prevalence rose by 27.5 per cent for adults and 47.1 per cent for children between 1980 and 2013.

In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3.4 million deaths, four per cent of years of life lost, and four per cent of disability-adjusted life-years worldwide.

Currently, more than 50 per cent of the 671 million obese individuals in the world live in 10 countries, with 62 per cent living in developing countries, Lancet found.

The USA accounted for 13 per cent of obese people worldwide in 2013, while China and India jointly accounted for 15 per cent.

Last year, member states of WHO introduced a voluntary target to stop the rise in obesity by 2025. “Although this resolution is commendable and the global public health community is taking the rise in obesity seriously, no countries have well documented downward trends in the past three decades,” said the report.

“Moreover, our analysis suggests that this target is very ambitious and unlikely to be attained without concerted action and further research to assess the effect of population-wide interventions, and how to effectively translate that knowledge into national obesity control programmes.

“To counter the impending health effects on populations, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, urgent global leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene against major determinants such as excessive caloric intake, physical inactivity, and active promotion of food consumption by industry, all of which exacerbate an already problematic obesogenic environment,” it added.

TOP 10 NATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF OBESE PEOPLE

1. USA

Overweight and obesity rate: 70.9% (men) and 61.9% (women)

Obesity rate: 31.7% (men) and 33.9% (women)

 

2. China

Overweight and obesity rate: 28.3% (men) and 27.4% (women)

Obesity rate: 3.8% (men) and 5% (women)

 

3. India

Overweight and obesity rate: 19.5% (men) and 20.7% (women)

Obesity rate: 3.7% (men) and 4.2% (women)

 

4. Russia

Overweight and obesity rate: 54.3% (men) and 58.9% (women)

Obesity rate: 15.3% (men) and 28.5% (women)

 

5. Brazil

Overweight and obesity rate:52.5% (men) and 58.4% (women)

Obesity rate: 11.7% (men) and 20.6% (women)

 

6. Mexico

Overweight and obesity rate: 66.8% (men) and 71.4% (women)

Obesity rate: 20.6% (men) and 32.7% (women)

 

7. Egypt

Overweight and obesity rate: 71.2% (men) and 79.4% (women)

Obesity rate: 26.4% (men) and 48.4% (women)

 

8. Germany

Overweight and obesity rate: 64.3% (men) and 49% (women)

Obesity rate: 21.9% (men) and 22.5% (women)

 

9. Pakistan

Overweight and obesity rate: 27.9% (men) and 38.4% (women)

Obesity rate: 14.4% (men) and 14.3% (women)

 

10. Indonesia

Overweight and obesity rate: 21.4% (men) and 30.6% (women)

Obesity rate: 5.4% (men) and 8.3% (women)