UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · Overweight Prevalence in Children Under Five
Child overweight by country
What share of young children are too heavy for their height?
Of the 163 countries compared in 2024, Myanmar had the lowest reading, 0.6229%, and Australia had the highest reading, 26.4308%. In the middle country the figure was 5.5000%. Among the 163 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 6.0666% to 5.5000%.
Part ofHealth & Wellbeing
Child overweight · 2024
Context statistic
Lowest of 163Myanmar
0.6229%012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 163 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Soe Lin derivative work: JamesA · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
2
3Photo: Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2024
Australia26.4308%
Papua New Guinea18.4608%
Turks and Caicos Islands18.3414%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Child overweight on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 10.5078–26.4308%
- 7.3231–10.2169%
- 4.7330–7.3194%
- 3.5278–4.7272%
- 0.6229–3.4135%
- No reading in 2024
- Africa
4.4164%
the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members
Mali1.2956%
Tunisia17.4790%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Asia
4.6842%
the middle country, of 44 measured · 52 members
Myanmar0.6229%
Armenia12.8670%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
7.3231%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 21 members
Kiribati2.1147%Australia26.4308%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
7.7935%
the middle country, of 25 measured · 49 members
Germany3.3059%
Albania16.6834%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
8.4592%
the middle country, of 29 measured · 48 members
Suriname3.7287%Turks and Caicos Islands18.3414%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Southern Asia
2.7424%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka0.9076%
Bhutan7.9868%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
3.1708%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Mali1.2956%
Cabo Verde8.3788%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
3.8171%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Myanmar0.6229%
Vietnam10.5078%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
4.2932%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Madagascar2.3351%
Seychelles10.8732%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
5.3014%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Central African Republic2.2882%
Cameroon13.5938%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Asia
5.4947%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan1.9618%
Mongolia12.2926%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
5.5178%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Tajikistan4.5814%
Kyrgyzstan9.8526%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Europe
6.0239%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 10 members
Belarus3.4135%
Ukraine15.9817%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Northern Europe
6.1028%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 13 members
Lithuania4.5955%
Ireland11.1793%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Central America
7.4357%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Guatemala3.7429%
Panama10.8623%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Western Asia
8.5396%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Yemen1.6736%Armenia12.8670%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
8.8823%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Suriname3.7287%
Paraguay15.3954%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
9.0283%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 24 members
Haiti3.9060%Turks and Caicos Islands18.3414%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Southern Africa
10.2169%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia5.7853%
South Africa12.8154%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Northern Africa
11.1991%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Sudan2.5780%Tunisia17.4790%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Europe
12.2475%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 17 members
Montenegro8.6033%Albania16.6834%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia26.4308%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Vanuatu5.5000%Papua New Guinea18.4608%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru.
Kiribati2.1147%
Nauru8.1638%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States9.6940%
Canada11.3564%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tuvalu4.0729%
Tonga9.4648%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Western Europe
3 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands.
Germany3.3059%
Netherlands5.4121%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
03The whole field at once
The spread
163 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 5.5000%; a quarter are above 9.4887%, and a quarter below 3.8616%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 163 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. A low figure is not by itself a sign of good health: some of the lowest readings come from countries where children are more often underfed than overfed. Read it beside stunting and wasting rather than on its own.
Showing 25 of 163 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2024 · 25 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2000, from the Joint Malnutrition Estimates' country model — a statistical model fitted to every survey a country has run, which gives it a figure for every year, with published uncertainty limits.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 163 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 163 | 5.5000% | 3.8616% – 9.4887% | 5.5000% |
| 2023 | 163 | 5.3877% | 3.6984% – 9.3550% | 5.3877% |
| 2022 | 163 | 5.4492% | 3.5433% – 9.2268% | 5.4492% |
| 2021 | 163 | 5.3896% | 3.4777% – 9.0332% | 5.3896% |
| 2020 | 163 | 5.7000% | 3.3109% – 8.9977% | 5.7000% |
| 2019 | 163 | 5.3410% | 3.2687% – 8.9745% | 5.3410% |
| 2018 | 163 | 5.4544% | 3.3367% – 8.9254% | 5.4544% |
| 2017 | 163 | 5.4581% | 3.2963% – 8.8955% | 5.4581% |
| 2016 | 163 | 5.3743% | 3.4494% – 8.9915% | 5.3743% |
| 2015 | 163 | 5.4813% | 3.5268% – 9.0200% | 5.4813% |
| 2014 | 163 | 5.6541% | 3.4679% – 9.1873% | 5.6541% |
| 2013 | 163 | 5.9521% | 3.4216% – 9.3434% | 5.9521% |
| 2012 | 163 | 5.9910% | 3.3746% – 9.2262% | 5.9910% |
| 2011 | 163 | 6.0135% | 3.3515% – 9.0343% | 6.0135% |
| 2010 | 163 | 6.0971% | 3.3379% – 9.2358% | 6.0971% |
| 2009 | 163 | 6.1308% | 3.4302% – 9.1762% | 6.1308% |
| 2008 | 163 | 6.2561% | 3.4851% – 8.9679% | 6.2561% |
| 2007 | 163 | 6.4927% | 3.5563% – 9.1588% | 6.4927% |
| 2006 | 163 | 6.4914% | 3.6485% – 9.0567% | 6.4914% |
| 2005 | 163 | 6.4797% | 3.7043% – 9.2270% | 6.4797% |
| 2004 | 163 | 6.4676% | 3.8115% – 9.2346% | 6.4676% |
| 2003 | 163 | 6.3679% | 3.8496% – 9.1181% | 6.3679% |
| 2002 | 163 | 6.1217% | 3.8293% – 8.9063% | 6.1217% |
| 2001 | 163 | 6.1968% | 3.8482% – 8.7463% | 6.1968% |
| 2000 | 163 | 6.0666% | 3.7825% – 8.3739% | 6.0666% |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Libya5.6034% → 4.7272% · 77th → 100th−0.8762
Indonesia3.3279% → 2.6028% · 129th → 142nd−0.7251
Saudi Arabia9.1287% → 8.4482% · 43rd → 55th−0.6805- Tonga10.0915% → 9.4648% · 32nd → 42nd−0.6267
Azerbaijan4.6793% → 4.1889% · 95th → 115th−0.4904
Worsened most
before → after
Djibouti3.7147% → 5.4632% · 121st → 85th+1.7485- Cameroon11.8769% → 13.5938% · 18th → 10th+1.7169
- Kyrgyzstan8.7039% → 9.8526% · 48th → 39th+1.1487
- Australia25.3184% → 26.4308% · 1st → 1st+1.1124
Jordan9.5385% → 10.6022% · 39th → 31st+1.0637
163 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024.
07Across every edition
Child overweight in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
28.7162%
Children under 5 who are overweight (%)
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2005
Lowest reading on record
0.5823%
Children under 5 who are overweight (%)
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2011
Biggest improvement between editions
−1.9198
19.5107% → 17.5909%
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2014 → 2015
Biggest decline between editions
+1.7485
3.7147% → 5.4632%
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2023 → 2024
Most improved since first measured
−15.1264
19.8536% → 4.7272%
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2000 → 2024
At the top most often
15 of 25
editions, alone at the first-listed end
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2000–2024
08By sex
Inside the number
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 163 countries with both readings, the girls reading is higher in 0, the boys reading in 163. The widest gaps each way:
09The measure
About child overweight
This is the share of children under five who are too heavy for their height. It is the other half of what nutritionists call the double burden of malnutrition: in many countries some children are underfed while others are overweight, and both harm health for life.
What the number is: Children under 5 who are overweight (%).
10Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where child overweight is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Ecological FootprintKeyGlobal Footprint Network · 110 countries in commonρ 0.54
- Expected Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 162 countries in commonρ 0.53
- Antenatal Care Coverage, At Least Four VisitsUNICEF · 117 countries in commonρ 0.51
Moves against
Where child overweight is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Wasting Prevalence in Children Under FiveUNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 134 countries in commonρ −0.57
- Global Multidimensional Poverty IndexOPHI · 103 countries in commonρ −0.55
- Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveKeyUNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 134 countries in commonρ −0.51
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 294 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
11Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
More from UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)
12Questions
Child overweight: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest child overweight?
Myanmar, at 0.6229%, among the 163 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the highest child overweight?
Australia, at 26.4308%, among the 163 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Overweight Prevalence in Children Under Five cover?
163 in 2024.
What is the world average child overweight?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 163 compared in 2024, the figure was 5.5000%.
Is this UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)’s own ranking?
No. UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Overweight Prevalence in Children Under Five published?
This site holds 25 reference years, 2000–2024, all recalculated in UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)’s 2025 report on one method — not 25 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. A Joint Malnutrition Estimate of UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, read from UNICEF's warehouse, which carries the model's estimates to four decimals where the JME's own workbook prints one. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
13Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Overweight Prevalence in Children Under Five — UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)
A Joint Malnutrition Estimate of UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, read from UNICEF's warehouse, which carries the model's estimates to four decimals where the JME's own workbook prints one.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group. Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. New York, Geneva and Washington, DC.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Myanmar — Soe Lin derivative work: JamesA, CC BY 2.0
- Sri Lanka — Løken, CC0
- Timor-Leste — Nhobgood Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Child overweight by country: Overweight Prevalence in Children Under Five, data from UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/child-overweight