Obesity In America Compared To Other Countries

In the United States, 79 percent of the population is overweight or obese. This means that only about 21 Americans out of 100 are at or below normal weight. If your body mass index is 25 or over, you are overweight. A BMI of 30 constitutes obesity. Some allowance in the overweight category may be made for heavily muscled people such as athletes. Other countries are following in American's footsteps when it comes to overweight and obesity.

Most Overweight Countries

With the exception of some tiny island nations, the United States is the fattest country in the world. These small nations and their overweight/obese percentages include: Nauru, with 95 percent; Micronesia, 92 percent; the Cook Islands, 92 percent; Tonga, 92 percent; Niue, 84 percent; Samoa, 83 percent, and Palau, 81 percent.

The Big Three

Mexico is second to the United States in obesity with 24.2 percent of the adult population classified as obese. Other major countries are having an obesity epidemic also. The United Kingdom reports 23 percent, nearly a quarter of the population, to be clinically obese and fears an increase in that percentage. The British are heavier than their European neighbors, but all Northern European countries are noting an increase in the weight of their citizens.

High-Obesity Countries

Australians are also getting heavier quickly. Their obesity rate has increased more rapidly than any developed country over the past 20 years. About 61 percent of Australians are at least overweight and 21.7 percent are obese. Australians are concerned first for the health of their children, but also for the increased costs of caring for the health problems of the obese. New Zealand is only a little behind them with an obesity rate of 20.9 percent. Slovakia, at 22.4 percent, and Greece, at 21.9 percent, are also in the top seven obese countries, which all have rates over 20 percent.

Lower-Obesity Countries

Countries with over 10 percent, but less than 20 percent, obesity, include Hungary, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Iceland and Turkey. Countries with one in 10 or fewer citizens classified as obese are the Netherlands, at exactly 10 percent, followed by Sweden, Denmark, France, Austria, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea, where only 3.2 percent of the people are obese.