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New Interactive Map Reveals The World’s Fattest Countries; America Among Worst-offending Nations

Surprised to know that the American population is at a rank to be worried about. America will be the fat land in the future.


Written by Merlin Mathew

On Jan 25, 2023 – 3 minutes read

World's Fattest Countries

Recent data compiled by Our World in Data(1) released an informative map that displayed obesity disparities among countries. Data from 195 countries around the world to create the map. A person’s body mass index (BMI) was used to calculate statistics. The numbers came from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, which recorded worldwide trends between 1975 and 2016 of 128.9 million people.

About 90% of adults are overweight in the worst offending countries. Topping the list at 88.5 % is the tiny country of Naru. The top 10 are all island nations in Oceania. The United States took the 15th position with 67.9%. The thinnest countries are India at 19.70 % and Vietnam at 18.30 %.

The study defined overweight as a body-mass index of 25 or higher. Those with a BMI above 25 are considered overweight because their weight in kilograms is divided by their height in meters squared. A BMI of 30 or over constitutes obesity. A ‘healthy’ BMI is considered from 18.5 to 24.9, according to the CDC.

World’s Fattest And Skinniest Countries

A whopping 39% of the adult population accounts for overweight or obese adults around the world. The majority of Americans (68%) fell into those categories. From the data, another upsetting trend is that not a single country had a decrease in its obesity rates. Post 2016, about 13% of the adult population was obese.

World's Fattest Countries

In the tiny country topping the list, Nauru, nine in 10 people are overweight.

Followed by other islands named Palau at second with 84.1%, then Cook Islands (84.7%), Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu with 83.5%, and 81.9% respectively.

In most countries, women are more obese than men, though obesity rates for the male population are also growing rapidly. 

Among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, the United States of America is the most obese at 15th position. Americans eat more calories than they burn, and the excess energy is stored as fat. Soaring obesity rates made the United States in the top 20 list of the world’s fattest countries. Overweight and obesity rates have increased steadily since the 1980s in both American men and women. Three out of four people are projected to be overweight or obese within 10 years.

The United States is home to 13% of the world’s fat population, the largest percentage of any other country in the world, according to a new study published in the Lancet. In fact, around 30% suffered from serious cardiovascular diseases. The obesity rate will reach nearly 50% by 2030 in the U.S.

The developing countries of the world were found to be the least overweight countries in the world. The people of Vietnam, are among the skinniest in Southeast Asia, with just 18.3% considered obese. Poverty is not the only thing keeping Vietnamese people thin. In addition to preventing obesity, the Vietnamese diet consists mainly of rice, vegetables, and fish. As part of Vietnamese culture, a balanced diet is also emphasized. Followed by India (19.7%), Bangladesh (20%) and Ethiopia (20.9%).

The health risks associated with being overweight or obese include death, strokes, cancer, and high blood pressure. Moreover, obesity has been categorized as a brain development disorder rather than a behavioral issue in a recent study.

The study indicated that the future of the majority of countries is more heavy people, the figures have increased drastically from the previous study. Experts propound that the new lifestyle and enhancement of technology as major contributing factors to these upsetting figures. This research on obesity disparities could highlight gaps in the information on call and provide guidance for future research, particularly among populations with a high obesity prevalence.

  1. Our World In Data. (n.d). Share of adults that are overweight or obese, 2016. (Online). Available at:

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-adults-who-are-overweight?country=~USA

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merlin

A curious storyteller with diverse interests ranging from governance, finance, politics, teaching, and writing. My passion for teaching and writing led me to be in meaningful experiences. I am at peace when I share my thoughts with the world. Trying to make a spark through my actions, ’cause you never know how the tiniest of your thoughts make an impact.

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