Outcome progress
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowAdult obesity has more than doubled since 1990 and obesity among adolescents has quadrupled; about 1.1 billion people were living with obesity in 2024.
Healthy Food Environments
More than one billion people now live with obesity, and the rise is driven far more by what food is cheap, available and advertised than by individual choices, which is why most of the tools to change it are public policies.
Updated October 15, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Take a guess first
Many countries tax sugary drinks. In the typical country, how much of the price of a common sugary soda is made up by that tax?
1.1 billion
People living with obesity
About one in seven people worldwide: 940 million adults (16% of adults) and 170 million children and adolescents aged 5–19. Modelled estimate based on NCD-RisC data.
Data year 2024. Source: World Health Organization, 2026
8%
Children and adolescents aged 5–19 living with obesity
About 170 million young people, up from 2% (31 million) in 1990. In total, 400 million 5–19-year-olds were overweight, including those living with obesity.
Data year 2024. Source: World Health Organization, 2026
126 of 194
Countries with at most one of five key obesity-prevention policies
The five policies assessed: taxes on sugary drinks, taxes on foods high in fat, sugar or salt, subsidies for healthier foods, limits on food marketing to children, and measures promoting physical activity. No country had all five.
Data year 2025. Source: World Obesity Federation, 2025
The numbers
Unit: % of 5–19-year-olds
WHO estimates based on NCD-RisC data; WHO reports only these two years. The number of young people living with obesity rose from about 31 million to 170 million over the period. Values are modelled from measured height and weight in population surveys.
Off track to halt the rise
Countries agreed to halt the rise in obesity and diabetes, and SDG target 3.4 aims to cut premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases by one third by 2030. The World Obesity Federation reports that the world is failing to meet these targets: high body mass index directly caused about 1.6 million premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases in 2021, and it projects that the number of adults living with obesity will grow from 524 million in 2010 to about 1.13 billion in 2030 if current trends continue.
Where obesity is rising fastest
Obesity has levelled off in most high-income countries, with signs of a small decline in some Western countries, but in most low- and middle-income countries it is rising at the same or a faster pace. In 2024, obesity among girls aged 5–19 rose faster than at any time since 1980 in 110 of 200 countries.
Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, 2026Several Pacific island countries have the highest obesity rates in the world. Among 5–19-year-olds, 38% live with obesity in Niue, 37% in the Cook Islands and 33% in Nauru, rates that have all doubled since 2000.
Source: UNICEF, 2025UNICEF estimates that in 2025 obesity overtook underweight among school-age children and adolescents for the first time (9.4% against 9.2%). This is now the case in every region except sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where many children still lack enough food.
Source: UNICEF, 2025Among adults, the share living with overweight or obesity ranges from 32% in WHO's South-East Asia and African regions to 68% in the Americas. In Africa, the number of overweight children under five has risen by nearly 12% since 2000.
Source: World Health Organization, 2026
Where it hits hardest
Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
Adults living with overweight or obesity
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Share of adults aged 18 and over with a body mass index of 25 or more, which includes obesity. These are WHO modelled estimates; all country values currently refer to 2022, but the map shows the latest year available for each country. BMI is a rough screening measure, and shares say nothing about how many people are affected: populous countries with moderate rates can have far more people living with obesity than small Pacific island states with the highest rates.
Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory, via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Are we making progress?
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Solution maturity
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
ModerateTaxes, marketing limits, labelling and school food rules are well understood, and WHO now recommends GLP-1 medicines for adults. But WHO's recommendation on these medicines is conditional because data on their long-term efficacy and safety are limited, and only a few high-income countries show signs of a small decline.
Implementation reach
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
LowTwo thirds of countries (126 of 194) have none or only one of five key prevention policies, the median sugary-drink tax is about 2% of the price, and GLP-1 medicines are projected to reach fewer than 10% of the people who could benefit by 2030.
Confidence in the data
ModerateThe NCD-RisC estimates pool 4,050 studies with measured height and weight from 232 million people, and only 3 of 200 countries had no data. They rely on BMI, however, which does not measure body fat directly.
Current trajectory
WorseningObesity has levelled off in most high-income countries but is rising at the same or a faster pace in most low- and middle-income countries, where 2024 saw the fastest annual increase since 1980 for many groups. The World Obesity Federation projects about 1.13 billion adults living with obesity by 2030.
Why this matters
Obesity is a chronic, often relapsing disease in which excess body fat harms health. It raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and several cancers, and WHO estimates that a body mass index above the healthy range caused about 3.7 million deaths in 2023. WHO now counts about 1.1 billion people living with obesity worldwide, roughly one in seven, including 940 million adults and 170 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19. Adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990 and obesity among adolescents has quadrupled. The main drivers are food environments: in many places, energy-dense foods high in sugar, salt and fat are cheaper, easier to find and more heavily advertised than healthy options, while safe places to be active are scarce.
The fastest increases are now in low- and middle-income countries. In 2024, obesity among school-age girls rose faster than at any time since 1980 in more than half of the world's countries, while it has levelled off in many high-income countries. Some Pacific island nations have the highest rates in the world, with more than 65% of adults living with obesity, and many lower-income countries face undernutrition and obesity at the same time. Children are exposed to intense marketing: in a 2025 UNICEF poll of 64,000 young people, three in four recalled seeing advertisements for sugary drinks, snacks or fast food in the previous week. The global economic cost of overweight and obesity is projected to reach US$3 trillion a year by 2030.
How overweight and obesity are measured
Population estimates use measured height and weight from health surveys and express them as body mass index (BMI): weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Different cut-offs apply to adults and children:
Adults
WHO defines overweight as a BMI of 25 or more and obesity as a BMI of 30 or more. BMI is a simple screening measure for populations; it does not measure body fat directly, and WHO notes that other measures such as waist circumference can also be used.
Children under five
A young child counts as overweight when their weight-for-height is more than two standard deviations above the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards, and as living with obesity above three standard deviations.
Children and adolescents aged 5–19
Overweight means a BMI-for-age more than one standard deviation above the median of the WHO Growth Reference, and obesity more than two standard deviations above it, because healthy body proportions change as young people grow.
Modelled global estimates
The global figures come from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), which pooled 4,050 population-based studies with 232 million participants to estimate trends from 1980 to 2024 for 200 countries and territories; three of them had no data at all.
What already works, and its limits
Taxes on sugary drinks
What works
Taxes raise the price of sugary drinks relative to healthier ones and generate public revenue. At least 116 countries tax sugary drinks, and WHO's 3 by 35 initiative asks countries to raise the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks through taxes by 2035.
Limits
The median tax is only about 2% of the price of a common soda, products such as 100% fruit juice, sweetened milk drinks and ready-to-drink coffee and tea often escape it, and few countries adjust taxes for inflation, so drinks become cheaper over time.
Limiting food marketing to children
What works
WHO recommends restricting the marketing of foods and drinks high in sugar, salt and fat, especially to children and teenagers. In a 2025 UNICEF poll, 60% of young people said such advertisements made them want to eat these foods.
Limits
Three in four young people in the same poll still recalled such advertisements from the previous week. UNICEF calls for mandatory rules and for safeguards that keep the food industry from interfering in policymaking.
Front-of-pack labels and reformulation
What works
Simple warnings or ratings on the front of packages help shoppers spot products high in sugar, salt or fat, and WHO asks the food industry to cut fat, sugar and salt in processed foods. UNICEF lists mandatory labelling and reformulation among the measures needed to change food environments.
Limits
Labels inform choices but do not change prices or what is available, and they help less where much food is sold unpackaged or in informal markets.
Healthy food from the start of life
What works
WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and UNICEF calls for ending the sale of ultra-processed and junk food in schools and for stronger social protection so that families can afford nutritious diets.
Limits
Programmes depend on working conditions that allow breastfeeding and on funding for school meals, and families on low incomes often still find healthy food harder to afford than energy-dense alternatives.
Long-term care in health services
What works
WHO describes obesity as a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive, lifelong care, combining support for diet and physical activity with medicines where appropriate, and calls for stronger primary health care to identify it early.
Limits
Only 13 countries had evidence of adequate health system readiness to manage obesity in 2025, so long-term care is out of reach for most people who need it.
Innovations to watch
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Early deployment
GLP-1 medicines for obesity
In December 2025 WHO issued its first guideline on liraglutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide, conditionally recommending them for long-term obesity treatment in adults (not in pregnancy), alongside support for diet and activity. WHO projects they will reach fewer than 10% of those who could benefit by 2030 and suggests pooled procurement, tiered pricing and voluntary licensing to widen access.
Early deployment
Banning ultra-processed foods in schools
Mexico has banned the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods and products high in salt, sugar and fat in public schools, a change UNICEF says affects the food environment of more than 34 million children. Its effect on children's health has not yet been measured.
Pilots
Coordinated health tax increases
WHO's 3 by 35 initiative encourages countries to use taxes to raise the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035. It is too early to know how many countries will follow it.
What is holding progress back
- Implementation gap:
- Solutions work but reach too few people. Needs infrastructure, funding and organisation.
- Coordination gap:
- Actors are not aligned. Needs standards, partnerships and better incentives.
- Technology gap:
- Principle known, not yet workable in practice. Needs applied research.
- Knowledge gap:
- Cause or mechanism not understood. Needs basic research.
Implementation gap
Most countries lack the core policies
Two thirds of countries (126 of 194) have none or just one of five key policies such as sugary-drink taxes or limits on marketing to children, and none has all five.
Implementation gap
Taxes too small to change prices
The median sugary-drink tax is about 2% of the price of a common soda. Many high-sugar drinks are exempt and taxes are rarely adjusted for inflation, so these products are becoming more affordable.
Coordination gap
Commercial pressure on children's food environments
Three in four young people in a 2025 UNICEF poll of 64,000 recalled advertisements for sugary drinks, snacks or fast food in the previous week. UNICEF calls for safeguards against industry interference in public policy.
Implementation gap
Health systems not ready for chronic care
Only 13 countries had evidence of adequate health system readiness for obesity in 2025, and WHO cites inadequate health-system preparedness as one reason its recommendation on GLP-1 medicines is conditional.
Technology gap
Costly medicines with limited long-term evidence
GLP-1 medicines are projected to reach fewer than 10% of people who could benefit by 2030, and data on their long-term efficacy and safety are still limited.
Knowledge gap
Measurement gaps
Global estimates rest on BMI from population surveys, a screening measure that does not measure body fat directly, and three of 200 countries and territories had no usable data at all. Measures such as waist circumference are not used in the global estimates.
Questions nobody has answered yet
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
Why obesity levelled off in some countries
Obesity has stopped rising in most high-income countries but is accelerating elsewhere. Which changes in food prices, products, marketing or daily life explain the plateau, and can countries now on a steep rise reach it sooner?
Which policy combinations work best
Taxes, labels, marketing limits and school food rules are usually studied one at a time. How much do they achieve together, and in which order should countries with limited capacity introduce them?
Long-term use of new medicines
What are the effects of GLP-1 medicines over many years, what happens when people stop taking them, and which patients should be treated first where budgets are tight?
Diagnosing obesity as a disease
BMI identifies excess weight in populations but not whether an individual's health is affected. Which practical measures of body fat and organ function could guide care in primary health services in low-income countries?
What you can do
Use respectful language
Obesity is a chronic disease shaped largely by surroundings, not a lack of willpower. Saying "people living with obesity" and avoiding jokes or blame makes it easier for people to seek care.
Back healthy food in schools and workplaces
Ask your child's school, sports club or workplace about the food and drinks they sell and the brands that sponsor them, and support water as the default drink.
Respond to public consultations
Governments often consult the public on sugary-drink taxes, food labelling and advertising rules. A short, factual response from a citizen or parent counts in these processes.
Talk to a health professional
If you are worried about your weight or a child's, ask a doctor or nurse for an assessment and long-term support rather than relying on quick-fix diets or medicines bought without a prescription.
Ideas from the community
Ideas visitors sent in for this challenge, read by the DO GOOD team and pinned with permission. The colour shows the kind of contribution.
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Connected challenges
- Diabetes Care for AllExcess body weight is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and countries agreed to halt the rise in both obesity and diabetes.
- Healthy HeartsWHO lists cardiovascular disease among the main causes of the 3.7 million deaths attributed to a higher-than-healthy BMI in 2023.
- Surviving Cancer Wherever You LiveHigher-than-healthy BMI raises the risk of several cancers, which WHO counts among the leading causes of BMI-related deaths.
- Zero HungerMany low- and middle-income countries face undernutrition and obesity at the same time, and underweight still outnumbers obesity among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
- Less Harm from AlcoholWHO's 3 by 35 initiative asks countries to use taxes to raise the real prices of both sugary drinks and alcohol by 2035.
Get involved with DO GOOD
This page is a research overview. DO GOOD does not run a dedicated programme on this challenge, and donations are not earmarked for it. You can join our volunteer work and outreach.
Sources
- [1]Obesity and overweight (fact sheet)
World Health Organization (7 October 2026), published 2026
WHO's current overview, with 2024 estimates based on NCD-RisC data. Source of the 1.1 billion people living with obesity, 940 million adults, 2.6 billion overweight adults, 35 million overweight children under five, 400 million overweight and 170 million obese 5–19-year-olds (2% in 1990, 8% in 2024), regional ranges, 3.7 million deaths in 2023, projected costs, definitions, causes and WHO's recommendations.
- [2]Obesity rise plateaus in developed nations and accelerates in developing nations
NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), Nature 653: 510–518, published 2026
Open-access (CC BY 4.0) author version of the Nature article published in May 2026, hosted by the White Rose repository because the Nature site could not be fetched. Source of the 4,050 studies and 232 million participants, the 1980–2024 trends for 200 countries, the plateau in high-income countries, the accelerating rise elsewhere, Pacific island prevalence above 65%, and data gaps.
- [3]Obesity exceeds underweight for the first time among school-age children and adolescents (press release on the 2025 Child Nutrition Report, Feeding Profit)
UNICEF (10 September 2025), published 2025
Launch of UNICEF's 2025 Child Nutrition Report. Source of the 2025 estimates of obesity (9.4%) and underweight (9.2%) among 5–19-year-olds, Pacific island prevalence among young people, the U-Report poll of 64,000 young people (75% recalled ads, 60% said they increased desire), Mexico's school ban affecting over 34 million children, and UNICEF's policy recommendations.
- [4]World Obesity Atlas 2025: majority of countries unprepared for rising obesity levels
World Obesity Federation (4 March 2025), published 2025
Summary of the World Obesity Atlas 2025. Source of the projection from 524 million (2010) to 1.13 billion adults with obesity (2030), 1.6 million premature deaths attributable to high BMI in 2021, the five-policy assessment (126 of 194 countries with none or one), health system readiness (13 countries) and the statement that the world is failing to meet targets.
- [5]Cheaper drinks will see a rise in noncommunicable diseases and injuries (news release on the Global report on the use of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, 2025)
World Health Organization (13 January 2026), published 2026
Launch of WHO's second global report on sugar-sweetened beverage taxes. Source of the at least 116 countries taxing sugary drinks, the median tax of about 2% of the price of a soda, exempt products, the lack of inflation adjustment and the 3 by 35 initiative.
- [6]WHO issues global guideline on the use of GLP-1 medicines in treating obesity
World Health Organization (news release, 1 December 2025), published 2025
Announcement of WHO's first guideline on GLP-1 medicines for obesity. Source of the conditional recommendations, the reasons for them (limited long-term data, cost, health-system preparedness), the projection that fewer than 10% of those who could benefit will be reached by 2030, the three pillars of WHO's approach and proposed access measures.