World Obesity Atlas 2025: Majority of countries unprepared for rising obesity level
March 2025 - World Obesity Atlas 2025
Majority of countries ‘unprepared’ for rising obesity level, experts warn
Key Findings from World Obesity Atlas 2025:
- Two-thirds of countries worldwide have none or just one of five key policies in place to address obesity
- Only 7% of countries have health systems adequately prepared
- 1.6 million premature deaths from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and stroke are caused by overweight and obesity annually - a number that outstrips road traffic fatalities
- The world is failing to meet targets to halt rise in obesity and diabetes and reduce deaths from non-communicable diseases
- We are calling for a 'whole-of-society approach' to addressing obesity
The majority of countries in the world do not have sufficient plans and policies in place to deal with rising obesity levels, researchers at the World Obesity Federation have warned.
Our 2025 World Obesity Atlas, published on World Obesity Day, (4 March), projects that the total number of adults living with obesity will increase by more than 115% between 2010 and 2030, from 524 million to 1.13 billion.
We are calling on governments to address obesity as a 'whole-of-society' issue, by introducing policies including food labelling and taxation, by creating built environments that encourage physical activity, and by strengthening health systems to deliver people-centred obesity healthcare.
Levels of Class II obesity and above (BMI over 35 kg/m2) - currently the common threshold used for when medical treatment is recommended - are set to more than double across the globe by 2030, with 385m adults reaching a body mass index of more than 35kg m2, up from 157m in 2010.
In 2021, 1.6 million deaths from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and stroke before the age of 70 were directly attributable to high BMI. By comparison, 1.2 million people died in road traffic incidents in the same year.
Meanwhile, 27 per cent (44 million) of the 161 million adult years lived with avoidable ill-health due to non-communicable diseases were attributed to high BMI. This rises to 55% of adult years living with ill-health from type 2 diabetes.
The Atlas’s authors conclude that overweight and obesity are driving death and ill health from the world’s leading diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
The increases in obesity and attributable diseases are occurring most rapidly in low-and-middle income countries, which tend to be the least prepared to deal with increases in obesity levels, especially when it comes to health systems.
Sharp increases in Class II obesity and above were seen across the globe.
- Globally, the number of adults in the world with Class II obesity and above has increased by almost 150% in 20 years (2010-2030, 157m to 385m, the exact increase is 145.223%)
- Africa saw an increase of over 200% from 11.8m - 37.2m adults (Exact increase 215.254%)
- The Americas saw an increase of more than 100% from 63m to 136m (Exact increase is 115.873%)
- The Eastern Mediterranean region saw an increase from 21.6m to 68m adults (more than 200%) (Exact increase is 214.815%)
- Europe saw an increase of more than 50% from 41.3m - 63m adults (Exact increase is 52.5424%)
- SE Asia saw an increase of 9.3m -37.3m adults (more than 300 per cent) (Exact increase is 301.075%)
- Western Pacific saw an increase from 9.3m - 43m adults (almost 400 per cent) (Exact increase is 362.366%)
We analysed the existence of five key policies for addressing obesity: Taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks, taxes on foods high in fats, saturated fats, sugar and salt, subsidies for healthier foods, restrictions on marketing food to children, and taxes and incentives to promote physical activity.
But we found that two thirds of countries (126 out of 194) have either none or just one of these policies in place to address rising obesity levels.
Concerningly, especially given the predicted rises in Class II obesity, 67 of 194 countries - more than one third of the world - have none or only one of eight indicators of public health system readiness in place [*see below for more on the indicators]. Only 13 countries had evidence of adequate health system readiness.
However, the existence of policies does not ensure implementation, especially in resource-poor settings. Furthermore, the policy indicators measured in the Atlas only capture a snapshot of the multisectoral action needed to address obesity comprehensively and we caution that changing systems requires collective action by governments and in wider society.
Simón Barquera, President of the World Obesity Federation, said today: “It’s clear that obesity is on the rise, and equally clear that many countries are unprepared to deal with what is an increasingly serious problem for populations.
“Obesity is a serious disease in its own right and a major driver of noncommunicable diseases including cancer, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, with almost 4 million deaths per year attributable to obesity.
“More people die because of obesity than in road traffic accidents every year. We would be horrified if a country had no policy in place to reduce fatalities on the road, but many governments across the world have no serious plan to reduce death and illness caused by obesity.
“We need governments to take a whole-of-society approach to addressing obesity - from food labelling and taxation, a built environment that gives people the opportunity to be active, challenging stigma, and better training for the health workforce to deliver people-centred obesity care.”
On World Obesity Day 2025, we are calling for 'Changing systems, healthier lives', with an emphasis on the necessity of coordinating sectors and strategies to implement a holistic and sustained response to obesity.
| National Guidelines/standards for: | National audit/survey in the last five years on: |
| Management of high BMI: Existence of evidence-based national guidelines/protocols/standards for the management of overweight/obesity | Overweight and obesity: Evidence of a recent, national adult risk factor survey covering overweight and obesity |
| Physical activity: Existence of evidence-based national guidelines for physical activity | Unhealthy diet: Evidence of a recent national adult risk factor survey covering unhealthy diet |
| Physical inactivity: Existence of evidence-based national guidelines/protocols/standards for the management of physical inactivity |
Physical inactivity: Evidence of a recent national adult risk factor survey covering physical inactivity |
| NCD management in primary care: Existence of evidence-based national guidelines/protocols/standards in the management of physical inactivity | STEPS or health examination: Evidence of a STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) survey or a comprehensive health examination survey every five years |
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World Obesity Atlas 2025
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