World Obesity Day: Almost 60 pct of Saudi population overweight, obese

Alarabiya
Mar 04, 2023

World Obesity Day: Almost 60 pct of Saudi population overweight, obese


Almost 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s adult population are either overweight or obese, according to the latest figures revealed ahead of World Obesity Day - but the Kingdom still fairs better than its GCC neighbors.

According to the Global Obesity Observatory, 20.2 percent of people in the Kingdom are classed as obese – having a Body Mass Index (a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) over 30 - while a further 38.2 percent are classed as overweight (a BMI over 25).

However, Saudi Arabia has the least prevalence of obesity in the GCC.

Kuwait has the highest prevalence – with almost 80 percent of its population overweight or obese – followed by Bahrain (72.4 percent), Qatar (70.1 percent), the UAE (67.9 percent) and Oman (66.2 percent).

When it comes to children, 10.5 percent of the under-18 population in Saudi Arabia is either overweight or obese, compared to half (49.5 percent) of children in Kuwait.