Obesity in adults

Data from the Scottish Health Survey show that, for people aged 16 to 64 years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity, as measured by Body Mass Index (see measurement  section) between the three surveys in 1995, 1998 and 2003:

• Prevalence of obesity among men increased from 16% in 1995 to 22% in 2003 and for women from 17% in 1995 to 24% in 2003 (chart 1)
• Obesity prevalence rates, as defined by Waist Hip Ratio (see measurement section) among men and women have also increased between 1995 and 2003; for men from 21.1% to 25.4% and for women from 14.4% to 25.3%
• For men, obesity increases between the ages of 16 and 65 years and for women between the ages of 16 and 74 years (chart 2)

 

Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.

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