In the shown time-period the mean height of men and women has generally increased in England. According to the survey, the average height of males rose slightly during the period in consideration, from 174.4 centimeters in 1998 to 176.2 centimeters (approximately 5'9") in 2022. In comparison, the mean height of women was 162.3 centimeters (5'4") in 2022, up from 161 in 1998. Reasons for height increasing While a large part of an adult’s final height is based on genetics, the environment in which a person grows up is also important. Improvements in nutrition, healthcare, and hygiene have seen the average heights increase over the last century, particularly in developed countries. Average height is usually seen as a barometer for the overall health of the population of a country, as the most developed are usually among the ‘tallest’ countries. Average waist circumference also increasing The prevalence of obesity among adults in England has generally been trending upward since 2000. In that year, 21 percent of men and women in England were classified as obese. By 2021, however, this share was 26 percent among women and 25 percent among men. Every adult age group in England had an average BMI which was classified as overweight, apart from those aged 16 to 24, indicating there is a problem with overweightness in England.

This statistic represents the average height of men in the top 20 countries worldwide as of 2016. On average, men are ***** centimeters tall in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Moldova MD: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data was reported at 7.000 % in 2012. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.500 % for 2005. Moldova MD: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data is updated yearly, averaging 9.250 % from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2012, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.500 % in 2005 and a record low of 7.000 % in 2012. Moldova MD: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Moldova – Table MD.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Prevalence of stunting, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's new child growth standards released in 2006.; ; World Health Organization, Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition. Country-level data are unadjusted data from national surveys, and thus may not be comparable across countries.; Linear mixed-effect model estimates; Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them into a vicious cycle of recurring sickness and faltering growth (UNICEF, www.childinfo.org). Estimates of child malnutrition, based on prevalence of underweight and stunting, are from national survey data. The proportion of underweight children is the most common malnutrition indicator. Being even mildly underweight increases the risk of death and inhibits cognitive development in children. And it perpetuates the problem across generations, as malnourished women are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies. Stunting, or being below median height for age, is often used as a proxy for multifaceted deprivation and as an indicator of long-term changes in malnutrition.

Macedonia MK: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data was reported at 4.300 % in 2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.200 % for 2005. Macedonia MK: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data is updated yearly, averaging 5.300 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2011, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.200 % in 2005 and a record low of 0.900 % in 2004. Macedonia MK: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Female: % of Children Under 5 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Macedonia – Table MK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Prevalence of stunting, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's new child growth standards released in 2006.; ; World Health Organization, Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition. Country-level data are unadjusted data from national surveys, and thus may not be comparable across countries.; Linear mixed-effect model estimates; Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them into a vicious cycle of recurring sickness and faltering growth (UNICEF, www.childinfo.org). Estimates of child malnutrition, based on prevalence of underweight and stunting, are from national survey data. The proportion of underweight children is the most common malnutrition indicator. Being even mildly underweight increases the risk of death and inhibits cognitive development in children. And it perpetuates the problem across generations, as malnourished women are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies. Stunting, or being below median height for age, is often used as a proxy for multifaceted deprivation and as an indicator of long-term changes in malnutrition.

Supplementary files for article Supplementary information files for Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants.BackgroundComparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents.MethodsFor this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence.FindingsWe pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls.InterpretationThe height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks.

In 2022, men aged 55 to 64 years had an average body mass index (BMI) of 29 kg/m2 and women in the same age group had a BMI of 28.8 kg/m2, the highest mean BMI across all the age groups. Apart from individuals aged 16 to 24 years, every demographic in England had an average BMI which is classified as overweight.An increasing problem It is shown that the mean BMI of individuals for both men and women has been generally increasing year-on-year in England. The numbers show in England, as in the rest of the United Kingdom (UK), that the prevalence of obesity is an increasing health problem. The prevalence of obesity in women in England has increased by around nine percent since 2000, while for men the share of obesity has increased by six percent. Strain on the health service Being overweight increases the chances of developing serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancers. In the period 2019/20, England experienced over 10.7 thousand hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of obesity, whereas in 2002/03 this figure was only 1,275 admissions. Furthermore, the number of bariatric surgeries taking place in England, particularly among women, has significantly increased over the last fifteen years. In 2019/20, over 5.4 thousand bariatric surgery procedures were performed on women and approximately 1.3 thousand were carried out on men.

Average birth weight and height for sample population percentiles for males and females.

The Health Survey for England (HSE) monitors trends in the nation’s health and care. It provides information about adults aged 16 and over, and children aged 0 to 15, living in private households in England. The survey consists of an interview, followed by a visit from a nurse who takes some measurements and blood and saliva samples. Interviews for children aged 0 to 12 were carried out with a parent; children aged 13 to 15 were interviewed directly. Children aged 8 to 15 filled in a self-completion booklet about their drinking and smoking behaviour and young adults, aged between 16 and 17 completed these questions directly into a computer. A total of 8,205 adults (aged 16 and over) and 2,095 children (aged 0 to 15) were interviewed in the 2019 survey. 4,947 adults and 1,169 children had a nurse visit. Each survey in the series includes core questions, and measurements such as blood pressure, height and weight measurements and analysis of blood and saliva samples. In addition, there are modules of questions on specific topics that vary from year to year. The Main Findings follow this page via the link at the bottom. Detailed reports and a link to the supporting Excel tables can be found further down this page and include: • Overweight and obesity in adults and children • Eating Disorders • Adults' health-related behaviours (includes smoking and alcohol consumption) • Children’s health (includes smoking and alcohol consumption) • Providing care to family and friends • Adults' health (includes diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol) • Use of health care services

In 2022, the mean waist circumference in England among the age group of 65 to 74 years was 104.5 centimeters for men and 91.3 centimeters for women. The was the age group with the largest average waist circumference among men, while the highest among women was reported in the age groups 55 to 64 years and above 75 years. Age and gender differences in very high waist circumference The 2022 data shows that the age group between 65 and 74 years in England had the largest share of men with very high waist circumference at 54 percent, whereas 56 percent of the women in the age group from 55 to 64 years had the same classification. Interestingly, both men and women. The youngest age group, 16 to 34 years, had the smallest share of individuals with very high waist circumference for both genders, with men at 17 percent and women at 34 percent. Obesity trends and health implications The increasing waist sizes align with broader obesity trends in England. In 2022, the mean body mass index (BMI) for both men and women was 27.6, which falls into the overweight category. This is part of a steady upward trend since 1998. The prevalence of obesity has also risen, with 30 percent of women and 28 percent of men classified as obese in 2022, up from 21 percent for both genders in 2000. Additionally, 39 percent of men and 31 percent of women were classified as overweight in 2022, while the share of individuals classified as having normal body weight was 31 percent among men and 37 percent among women in England.

In 2020, the average median weekly earnings for men who were full-time workers was *** British pounds a week, compared with *** for women. At the height of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, in **********, almost half of UK workers were working from home, and just ** percent of people were traveling to work.

There were 11,480 deaths registered in England and Wales for the week ending November 14, 2025, compared with 11,297 in the previous week. During this time period, the two weeks with the highest number of weekly deaths were in April 2020, with the week ending April 17, 2020, having 22,351 deaths, and the following week 21,997 deaths, a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Death and life expectancy As of 2022, the life expectancy for women in the UK was just over 82.5 years, and almost 78.6 years for men. Compared with 1765, when average life expectancy was under 39 years, this is a huge improvement in historical terms. Even in the more recent past, life expectancy was less than 47 years at the start of the 20th Century, and was under 70 as recently as the 1950s. Despite these significant developments in the long-term, improvements in life expectancy stalled between 2009/11 and 2015/17, and have even gone into decline since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, for example, life expectancy at birth fell by 23 weeks for females, and 37 weeks for males. COVID-19 in the UK The first cases of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom were recorded on January 31, 2020, but it was not until a month later that cases began to rise exponentially. By March 5 of this year there were more than 100 cases, rising to 1,000 days later and passing 10,000 cumulative cases by March 26. At the height of the pandemic in late April and early May, there were around six thousand new cases being recorded daily. As of January 2023, there were more than 24.2 million confirmed cumulative cases of COVID-19 recorded in the United Kingdom, resulting in 202,156 deaths.

Malawi MW: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Male: % of Children Under 5 data was reported at 51.800 % in 2010. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.400 % for 2009. Malawi MW: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Male: % of Children Under 5 data is updated yearly, averaging 55.200 % from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2010, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 58.100 % in 1992 and a record low of 51.800 % in 2010. Malawi MW: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: Male: % of Children Under 5 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Prevalence of stunting, male, is the percentage of boys under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's new child growth standards released in 2006.; ; World Health Organization, Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition. Country-level data are unadjusted data from national surveys, and thus may not be comparable across countries.; Linear mixed-effect model estimates; Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them into a vicious cycle of recurring sickness and faltering growth (UNICEF, www.childinfo.org). Estimates of child malnutrition, based on prevalence of underweight and stunting, are from national survey data. The proportion of underweight children is the most common malnutrition indicator. Being even mildly underweight increases the risk of death and inhibits cognitive development in children. And it perpetuates the problem across generations, as malnourished women are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies. Stunting, or being below median height for age, is often used as a proxy for multifaceted deprivation and as an indicator of long-term changes in malnutrition.

Belize BZ: Prevalence of Wasting: Weight for Height: Male: % of Children Under 5 data was reported at 2.100 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.200 % for 2011. Belize BZ: Prevalence of Wasting: Weight for Height: Male: % of Children Under 5 data is updated yearly, averaging 2.400 % from Dec 2006 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.200 % in 2011 and a record low of 2.100 % in 2015. Belize BZ: Prevalence of Wasting: Weight for Height: Male: % of Children Under 5 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belize – Table BZ.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Prevalence of wasting, male, is the proportion of boys under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.;UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology.;;Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them into a vicious cycle of recurring sickness and faltering growth (UNICEF). Estimates are from national survey data. Being even mildly underweight increases the risk of death and inhibits cognitive development in children. And it perpetuates the problem across generations, as malnourished women are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies. Stunting, or being below median height for age, is often used as a proxy for multifaceted deprivation and as an indicator of long-term changes in malnutrition.