Nearly two-thirds of men and women in the UK are obese or overweight, according to new analysis of overweight and obesity data conducted by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
The study which looks at data from 1980 to 2013, claims that more people in the UK are either obese or overweight than at any other time in the past three decades. The UK, it says, has the third-highest rate of excess weight in western Europe behind Iceland and Malta.
67% of men and 57% of women in the UK are overweight or obese according to the study which uses a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 25 to define 'overweight' and a BMI of 30 or more to define 'obese'.
Researchers found that overweight and obesity among children and adolescents is also a growing problem in the UK. The study found 26% of boys and 29% of girls were overweight or obese, compared to 17.5% and 21% in 1980.
The analysis of trend data from 188 countries, found that worldwide, the proportion of male adults with a BMI of 25 or more, increased from 29% in 1980 to 37% in 2013 while the proportion of female adults with the BMI stated above, increased from 30% to 38% over the same period.
Researchers also highlighted a substantial increase in the prevalence of excess weight in children and adolescents in developed countries - 24% of boys and 23% of girls worldwide were overweight or obese in 2013.
The table at the end of this article shows overweight and obesity rates by country and gender. You can find the full data in the downloadable spreadsheet.
What is BMI? and why is it used to measure obesity?BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters (kg/m2). It is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults.
BMI as a measure of obesity has long been a hot topic of debate, with critics arguing that it does not distinguish between fat and muscle and questioning its validity as a useful way to measure whether a person is overweight or not.
Nick Trefethen, professor of numerical analysis at the University of Oxford even proposed a 'new BMI formula' in 2013.
The World Health Organisation provide a handy explanation of why BMI is a popular method to measure excess weight but also why caution should be expressed:
BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different individuals.
The National Health Observatory (NHO) name BMI as an "attractive measure because it is an easy, cheap and non-invasive means of assessing excess body fat" while "true measures of body fat are impractical or expensive to use at population level". The NHO do note the draw breaks of it though:
It is only a proxy indicator of body fatness; factors such as fitness (muscle mass), ethnic origin and puberty can alter the relationship between BMI and body fatness. Therefore, BMI may not be an accurate tool for assessing weight status at an individual level, and other ways of measuring body composition may be more useful and accurate.
BMI does not provide any indication of the distribution of body fat and does not fully adjust for the effects of height or body shape, which may be particularly important when comparing figures across ethnic groups.
However it argues that:
Download the dataThe widespread use of BMI and the resulting supporting literature mean that very convincing arguments would be needed to move to routine use of any other index of fatness...research has shown that individuals whose BMI falls into the overweight or obese categories are more likely to experience health problems associated with excess weight.
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
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67% of men and 57% of women in the UK are overweight or obese according to new analysis of overweight and obesity data by IHME. Photograph: Jon Super