Slovenian women successfully warding off obesity
Women's run. Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
The latest survey on obesity compiled in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows the obesity rate among Slovenian women is the lowest in central Europe, putting the country 162nd in the world. On a more negative note, Slovenia ranks 63rd in terms of the share of obese men.
Compared to 1990 the proportion of obese women was up by 1.8 percentage points to 14%, while the share of obese men increased by as many as 14 points to 26%.
Among girls aged 5-19, the obesity rate is 8%, or 5 points higher than in 1990, putting Slovenia in 95th place. Among boys, however, the obesity rate has risen by almost 8 points to 13%, with country ranking 88th in the world in this respect.
The survey, which was published in the medical journal Lancet ahead of 4 March, World Obesity Day, finds that the number of people suffering from obesity worldwide is now four times higher than in 1990 and has topped one billion earlier than it was expected. Experts believed this would happen in 2030.
Poor countries in Polynesia, Micronesia, the Caribbean, Middle East and north Africa are the most affected. The problem is also that obesity among children and teenagers has been rising faster than among adults.
More than 220 million people in over 190 countries participated in the survey, which showed than in 2022 43% of adults were overweight. While undernourishment has been dropping around the world, it remains a problem especially in south-east Asia and in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
