According to a new study that was published in the the Lancet medical journal, the world is getting fatter. Since the study first started back in 1980 the largest increase in the rate of obesity were in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras, and Bahrain for women, and in New Zealand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the USA for men. I downloaded the PDF of the study and I’ve put together a top 10 list of the highest obesity rates in the world:
Obese Girls < 20 Years
1- Kiribati 36%
2- Federated States of Micronesia 32.4%
3- Samoa 29.6%
4- Kuwait 23.3%
5- Libya 22.1%
6- The Bahamas 20.2%
7- Uruguay 18.1%
8- Soloman Islands 18.0%
9- Qatar 15.5%
10- Syria 15.4%
Obese Boys < 20 Years
1- Samoa 23.7%
2- Kiribati 22.9%
3- Qatar 18.8%
4- Kuwait 16.7%
5- The Bahamas 15.9%
5- Lebanon 15.9%
7- Libya 14.5%
8- Federated States of Micronesia 14.5%
9- Syria 13.9%
10- Israel 13.9%
Obese Women ≥ 20 Years
1- Samoa 69.1%
2- Tonga 67.2%
3- Kuwait 58.6%
4- Federated States of Micronesia 57.9%
5- Libya 57.2%
6- Kiribati 55.5%
7- Qatar 54.7%
9- Marshall Islands 49.1%
10- Egypt 48.4%
Obese Men ≥ 20 Years
1- Tonga 52.4%
2- Samoa 45.9%
3- Qatar 44.0%
4- Kuwait 43.4%
5- Kiribati 39.3%
6- Marshall Islands 31.9%
7- USA 31.7%
9- Federated States of Micronesia 31.3%
10- The Bahamas 30.9%
Sadly Kuwait made it into the top 5 of every list. Although no countries had significant decreases in obesity, I would be interested to see if Kuwait’s obesity rate has at least slowed down over the past few years. Everyone is generally more health conscious today than they were a few years ago (me included) and there are a lot more gyms and healthy food options available now as well. You can download the full study from [Here] (signup required)
15 replies on “Kuwait vs Worldwide Obesity Levels”
Syria? Most Syrians are starving to death, there are food sanctions in Syria and a huge civil war…
How can SYRIA possibly be one of the most obese countries in the world. There is NO way that 15% of Syrian girls are obese
Most Egyptians suffer from malnutrition, Egypt is a poor country yet according to this list 50% of Egyptian women are obese. SERIOUSLY?!
This is a joke, right
According to the study, “62% of the world’s obese individuals live in developing countries”.
Most people in the ‘developing world’ are suffering from malnutrition and starvation
There is no way that Syria, Lebanon and Egypt are among the world’s most obese countries
What are you talking about? I’ve never heard about anyone in our region starving, there isn’t a famine here.
You’re thinking of under-developed countries maybe, as opposed to developing.
These days even the poor can afford filling food. You can get fat off bread if you aren’t moving around much.
bread + rice and everyone can afford them.
Well, there are two kinds of food. Foods that are energy-dense and foods that are nutrient-dense. Foods that are energy-dense are very cheap processed foods that contain very little micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) and high amounts of fat, sugar and carbohydrates.
Foods that are nutrient dense are foods that contain lower amounts of sugar, fat, carbs and high amounts of micronutrients.
15% of Syrian girls are obese because they may have access to a little food, but these foods are all energy-dense: processed, low in micronutrients and high in items that will over time make you obese if it is all you are eating. It makes total sense that these girls are obese.
These signs “” still confuse me 😛
Adult prevalence rate of Obesity was at 42% (2008), so it’s increasing.
This is a dubious study, there is no way that most Kuwaitis are obese
The “Obese” dividing line is much lower than you think it is most likely. You’re thinking super fat but a bit of a belly can classify as obese.
Mark, what the hell happens at the age of 20, the before and after percentages are explosive hehehe
After 20 you get married 😉
Very interesting article actually. good find on the lancet and good summary mark.