In 2022, over 33 percent of both men and women in the United States reported themselves as obese (BMI over 30), making it the country with the highest percentage of obese adults on this list. Other selected countries on the list with a high prevalence of obesity among adults included the United Kingdom and Australia. Obesity groups in the United States In 2022, Black adults had the highest overweight and obesity rates of any race or ethnicity in the United States. Asians and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders had the lowest rates by far, with roughly 14 percent. In 2021, about 30 percent of people aged 65 and older were obese in the United States. This estimate has been steadily increasing since 2013 when roughly 27 percent of elderly Americans were obese. Leading health problems worldwide Obesity was considered one of 2023’s biggest health problems: 25 percent of adults worldwide stated that obesity was the biggest health issue for people within their country. Around 44 percent of adults stated that mental health was the most significant problem facing their country that year.

Approximately half of all people in the Netherlands had a normal body weight in 2022, measured by the industry-standard Body Mass Index method. Men were more likely to be overweight than women, whereas more women than men were underweight. Interestingly, obesity was found more often among women, with approximately 14 percent of Dutch females suffering from being severely overweight. Looking at the overall population, more than half of the Dutch inhabitants aged 20 years and older were overweight.

Weight issues vary between generations

Age groups in the Netherlands suffered from several different health problems related to weight and body image. A recent study found that obesity occured in more than 17 percent of Dutch inhabitants aged 50 to 64 years old, whereas only 9 percent of Gen Z and millennials (aged 18 to 34 years old) were obese. When confronted with the question of how they perceive their own bodies, nearly 50 percent of the Dutch millennials think they are overweight. This may have something to do with the omnipresence of unattainable beauty ideals on social media, often portrayed by fitgirl/boy influencers.

Global perspective

When looking at adults, the share of obesity in the Netherlands was quite close to the global average, being much lower than in the United States, Russia, or Iceland, to name but a few examples. In contrast, the prominence of underweight issues among Dutch youth was disproportionate in an international context. Nearly 10 percent of Dutch 13 and 15-year-old boys were underweight, which was more than in any other European country. the aforementioned negative body image may have been part of the cause for this frequency of underweight issues.