New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD
New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD , and our rates continue to increase. One in three adult New Zealanders (over 15 years) is classified as obese, and one in ten children. Prevalence of obesity in New Zealand's population As of June 2008, 26.5% of New Zealanders are obese,[1] a number only surpassed in the English-speaking world by the United States.[1][2] New Zealand's Adults The New Zealand Ministry of Health Survey of 2016/17 found that 34% of adults (aged 15 and over) are overweight (BMI between 25.0 and 29.9),[3] with a further 1.2 million people (32%) being obese (BMI over 30.0), up from 29% in 2011/12.[4] Out of a total estimated population of 4.3 million in 2008,[5] the Ministry's studies show that roughly 1.13 million New Zealand adults were overweight,[6] with an extra 826,000 obese.[6] The 2008 figures, which represent samples from 2006 and 2007, show that 25% of New Zealand adults are obese, a slight increase from 2002 and