Obesity rates have continued to climb sharply in many low- and middle-income countries over the past four decades, while levels have stabilised in much of Western Europe and other high-income nations, according to a major new global study.
The research, published in Nature, analysed data from 232 million people across 200 countries and territories between 1980 and 2024.
Researchers say the study challenges the idea of describing obesity as a single "global epidemic", which can overlook "the fact that trajectories differ substantially between countries, age groups and sex".
The study was carried out by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a network of nearly 2,000 scientists worldwide, using data from more than 4,000 population-based studies measuring height and weight in people aged five and older.
What is the definition of obesity?
