Chapter 3 Additional World Health Assembly nutrition indicators
This section assesses progress towards three additional WHA endorsed global nutrition targets, i.e. exclusive breastfeeding, low birthweight, and adult obesity.
3.1 Adult obesity
The prevalence of obesity among adults has been on the rise over the past 20 years, affecting 15.8 percent of the global population in 2022, representing 881 million people, up from 8.7 percent in 2000 (Figure 17).
In LAC, the prevalence of adult obesity in 2022 was nearly double the global estimate, at 29.9 percent, representing 141.4 million adults. This prevalence has doubled since 2000, when it was estimated at 15.4 percent. At the subregional level, Mesoamerica recorded the highest prevalence (34.4 percent), followed by South America (28.6 percent) and the Caribbean (24.5 percent) (Table 11). All three subregions have experienced a sustained increase in the prevalence of obesity since the turn of the century.
In absolute terms, obesity affected 7.6 million adults in the Caribbean, 42.5 million in Mesoamerica, and 91.2 million in South America.
FIGURE 17.
Prevalence of obesity among adults in Latin America and the Caribbean by subregion
In 2022, estimates for 32 countries in the region showed that three countries had a prevalence of adult obesity above 40 percent: the Bahamas (47.3 percent), Saint Kitts and Nevis (45.6 percent) and Belize (42.3 percent). These were closely followed by Argentina, Barbados, Chile, Panama and Mexico, where the prevalence ranged between 35 and 40 percent. Between 2012 and 2022, the obesity prevalence increased in all but one country, with most countries showing increases between 6 and 8 percentage points. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was the only country where the prevalence remained unchanged over this period.
FIGURE 18.
Prevalence of obesity among adults in Latin America and the Caribbean by country and subregion
