Top 10 Most Obese Countries By Obesity Rate In 2023

Obesity is a double burden for hunger, and in every country except Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, more people today are obese than underweight. Overweight and obesity in low or middle-income countries, particularly in urban environments, are now significantly increasing when considered a concern in high-income countries alone. In emerging nations, the vast majority of overweight or obese children live with a growth rate of more than 30% above developed countries.

Oversize and obesity are characterized as fat accumulation that is irregular or unsustainable and poses a health risk. An overweight body mass index (BMI) of 25 and more than 30 is considered obese. The problem has risen to be epidemic, with over 4 million deaths annually, depending on the global disease burden resulting from overweight or obesity in 2017. A score for the Body Mass Index, or BMI, is an individual’s weight in kilograms divided into meters by height. The WHO describes overweight as having a body mass index of 25 or higher. Obesity is a BMI of 30 or more.

• Among OECD countries, the US is the most obese (36.2%) country globally. 
• Nearly 40% of American adults aged 20 and over are obese. 71.6% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight, including obesity.
• West Virginia (74.66) is the fattest state in America.
• Arlington, Va., has been named as “America’s Fittest City.”
• The thinnest state in America is Colorado.
• Vietnam is the thinnest country in the world.
• Studies show that obesity correlates with very high rates of chronic disease, much higher than living in poverty and smoking or drinking alcohol.

The ten nations with the most obesity rates are as follows:

10. Micronesia

The non-communicable disease (NCD) targets relating to nutrition have not been met with much success in Micronesia. Obesity affects 44.4% of adult men and 55.2% of adult women. Micronesia has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world, exceeding the regional averages of 31.7% for women and 30.4% for men. Likewise, 24.3% of adult men and 27.1% of adult women are believed to have diabetes, respectively.

9. Kiribati

In terms of accomplishing the non-communicable disease (NCD) benchmarks related to nutrition, Kiribati has made only modest progress. 45.4% of adult men and 53.7% of adult women report having obesity. The obesity rate in Kiribati ranks among the highest in the world, exceeding the regional estimate of 30.4% for men and 31.7% for women. Diabetes is predicted to affect 24.8% of adult men and 26.2% of adult women.

8. Samoa

Samoa is ranked in the tenth place on our list of most obese countries globally in 2023, with an obesity rate of 47.30%. A gene that raises a human’s chance of obesity by 40% was found and is present in 25% of all Samoans. Researchers found The gene is special to the Samoans since the Samoans were probably more than three thousand years old before the South Pacific Islands were colonized. About 77.6% of Samoa’s adults are overweight.

The Samoa Island Nation is one of the world’s ten most overweight nations, all centralized in the Ocean. While it is partly responsible for adopting a westernized lifestyle – eating high calory food and minute exercise – there is another cause which may hinder Samoan adults’ desire to keep their weight stable. Poor diet and reduced physical activity in Samoa, where people have an inherited predisposition to Type 2 diabetes, have become significant public health issues.

7. Tonga

Tonga is the world’s seventh most obese country in 2023, with an obesity rate of 48.20%. The life expectancy has decreased by a historical average of the mid-70s to 64 years in Tonga. The importation of inexpensive, fatty cuts in meat from New Zealand called motion flaps is the main culprit behind Tonga’s troubling weight issue (used in fast food and doner kebabs across Europe). About 78.5% of adults in Tonga are overweight. In 2004, the first Pacific Island nation launched a robust health policy to fight obesity. However, just one year later, Tonga entered a campaign to reduce import tariffs in the World Trade Organization. In 2016, the incidence of the overweight adult population rose by almost five percentage points analyzed in 2006, two years after Tonga became a WTO member.

6. Niue

Niue is placed sixth on our list of most obese countries globally in 2023, with an obesity rate of 50.00%. It is bilingual, and most speak Niuean and English. More than a fifth of the population can speak both languages. There are 14 settlements on the island. Niue, one of the world’s smallest island countries in the South Pacific Ocean with 80 percent BMI for adults 25 or more, is one of the weightiest. The percentage of overweight women and men differs considerably. In 2016, 82.5% of females and 77.6% of males were excessive. The disorder threatening the Health of Niue has become more prevalent in the last decade. As of 2006, overweight was 77.5 percent, and overweight was 71.0 percent.

5. Tuvalu

Tuvalu is on the fifth of our list of most obese countries globally in 2023, with an obesity rate of 51.60%. Some 81.9% of adults in Tuvalu are obese. There has been an ever-increasing faith in imported foods, mostly heavily processed packaged goods, full of sugar and saturated fat. And the prevalence of adults describing high body mass index is on the rise, having risen by 5.5 percentage points in the former decade. Heart disease, which has been closely accompanied by diabetes and elevated blood pressure, is Tuvalu’s greatest concern in health and the leading cause of death since the late 20th century. Diabetes mellitus, asthma, obesity, and stroke were among other causes of death. Heart conditions caused the most deaths in 2016.

4. Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands is on the fourth of our list of most obese countries globally in 2023, with an obesity rate of 52.90%. Vitamin A deficiency is a common public health issue, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure on the Marshall Islands. According to the World Health Organization, the rapidly deteriorating weight crisis in the South Pacific is due, in particular, to the surge in foodstuffs imported. However, some health workers say that the reasons for such extreme weight issues around the Pacific Rim are because Polynesian people who usually have a bigger bone and muscle mass than their Caucasian counterparts do not have a calculation for Body Mass Index. Around 83.5% of adults in the Marshall Islands are overweight, perhaps partly due to imports of products. A high-carbon diet, sugar, and fat can contribute, including diabetes, to too many health problems in its Population. 

3. Palau

Palau is on the fifth of our list of most obese countries in 2023, with an obesity rate of 55.30%. It has the world’s second-highest fat percentage of adults at 85.1 percent. 39.8% of people in the U.S. are obese from a viewpoint. This island depends heavily on imported food and is much more expensive for healthier choices. Quick eating, which probably leads to the elevated body mass index of Palau adults and the progression of diabetes Type II is a cheaper option. In Palau, more than one in five people have diabetes, according to the World Bank. Around 78,4% of Palauans are listed as overweight; 47,6% are obese, and among the ailing population, diabetes and liver disease also are rampant. Hearty diseases and cancers caused by nutritional and environmental factors are rising in Palau.

2. Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is on the second of our list of obese countries in 2023, with an obesity rate of 55.90%.  The Cook Islands has 84.7% of adults overweight in this region, up from 80.9% in 2006. The collection of islands in the Oceania Pacific region is more likely to have a higher body mass because the imported products are extensively processed. Weight issues start in the Cook Islands at a young age as 27 percent are overweight children aged 5 to 19. The 35% of adolescents 13-18 years old who are obese are all the more concerned. More than 30% of children in the Cook Islands were obese in a 2017 study by the World Health Organization. As a result of the alarming rate of obesity, the Cook islands ministry of health cited various behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental reasons. 

1. Nauru

Nauru is on the first of our list of most obese countries globally in 2023, with an obesity rate of 61.10%.  According to the median Body Mass Index (BMI), Nauruans are the world’s most overweight. 97% of men and 93% of women are overweight or obese. Obesity is widespread in the Pacific Islands. With over 40% of the population affected, Nauru has the highest incidence of type-2 diabetes worldwide. Kidney disease and heart disease are other major dietary-related complications in Nauru. The CIA World Factbook reports that an astonishing 94.5% of the 10,000 inhabitants of Nauru are considered overweight, while 61.1% are classified as obese. In recent years, the population has decreased after 1500 people fled the island after the immigrant jobs were repatriated.

So, these are all about the Top Ten Most Obese Countries in the World! If you want to take a glimpse at the ranking of all the countries in the world along with their respective obesity rate, then have a look below:

Conclusion!

In adults and youth, levels of obese and overweight continue to rise. From 1975 to 2016, overweight or obese children and teenagers aged 5 to 19 grew more than four-fold from 4 to 18 percent globally. Many countries with small economies have been rated as being the most obese. The World Health Organization states that increasing nutritious eating and food shortages are contributory causes of obesity in underdeveloped countries. Obesity rates of less than 2% in the least obese countries worldwide. Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Eritrea, and Madagascar are the five least obese countries worldwide.