Tackling Obesity in England - National Audit Office

TACKLING OBESITY IN ENGLANDAppendix 3Global prevalence and trends in obesity1 The picture in England reflects an upward world-widetrend. The International Obesity Task Force wasestablished to lead research on the global epidemic ofobesity and to help Governments to develop strategiesto address it. It is associated with the InternationalAssociation for the Study of Obesity which has 39constituent national bodies for research on obesitythroughout the world. The Task Force, working inpartnership with the World Health Organisation, hasgathered evidence on the prevalence and trends inobesity throughout the world. Figure 28 shows the TaskForce's estimates of the prevalence of obesity for menand women in a range of countries where broadlycomparable data were available.2 The Task Force has found that the rise in obesity is notrestricted to more developed countries 11 . Theprevalence of obesity is also rising amongst moreaffluent populations of less developed countries, eventhose with significant rates of under-nutrition. Ghana,for example, now has only slightly more underweightthan overweight people. There are also small populationgroups throughout the world with very high rates ofobesity. Amongst the urban population of WesternSamoa, for example, over half the men and threequartersof the women are obese, as are 44 per cent ofblack women living in the Cape Peninsular of theRepublic of South Africa. Thus, the upper limit on theproportion of people who may become obese in anypopulation is very high. This underlines the need to findways throughout the world to arrest the rising trend.28 Global prevalence of obesity in adults, 1991-92 (BMI>30)ChinaJapanBrazilAustraliaNetherlandsCanadaCountryEnglandCzech RepublicWest GermanySaudi ArabiaUSAEast GermanyKuwaitWestern Samoa (urban)Note:Source:There are differences in the timing and age ranges used in individual national studies, but the data used above represent the best estimates of thecomparative prevalence of obesity in adults in these countries in the period 1991-92International Obesity Task Force0 20 40PercentageMen Women60 80appendix three51