Obesity
The World Health Organization describes the prevalence of obesity as an epidemic.
There has been a rise in obesity in New Zealand adults in recent decades - from 9% (males) and 11% (females) in 1977 to 27.7% and 27.8% respectively in 2008/09.
The most recent obesity figures for adults were released in September 2011 in A Focus on Nutrition: Key Findings of the 2008/09 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey.
The most recent obesity figures for children were released in June 2008 in A Portrait of Health: Key Results from the 2006/07 NZ Health Survey.
The next obesity figures for both adults and children will be released in late 2012, based on the results of the next New Zealand Health Survey.
The 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey found that:
- one in three adults were overweight (37.0%) and one in four were obese (27.8%).
The 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey found that:
- one in five children aged 2 to 14 years were overweight (20.9%) and one in twelve was obese (8.3%).
In this section
- Statistics on obesity in New Zealand which are taken from two key publications - A Focus on Nutrition: Key Findings of the 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey, and A Portrait of Health: Key Results from the 2006/2007 New Zealand Health Survey. Read more
- An introduction to what causes obesity, how it's measured and why it's a concern. Read more
- Publications relating to obesity, nutrition and physical activity in New Zealand. Read more
Page last updated: 06 December 2011
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