Overweight and obesity are major public health concerns as the global epidemic has far-reaching consequences for individuals, society, and the economy. Obesity is an established risk factor for numerous health conditions, including hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems, skeletal diseases, and some forms of cancer, and mortality also increases progressively once the overweight threshold is crossed. Therefore, obesity and overweight reduce life expectancy, increase healthcare costs, decrease workers’ productivity, and lower countries’ GDP (OECD, 2019[1]).
In LAC, obesity prevalence among adults is 38.5% for females, and 24.28% for males, both well above the OECD averages of 25.3% and 6.24%, respectively in 2022 (Figure 4.10). Caribbean countries, including Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Belize, are the LAC countries with the highest prevalence of female obesity, where more than 50% of adult women are obese (more than 1 out of 2 adult females are obese). Among men, the highest prevalence rates in males are also observed in Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Argentina, with 39.2%, 37.4% and 34.8%, respectively. In contrast, Haiti is the only country in the region with obesity prevalence below the OECD average for both genders.
Obesity prevalence has increased from 2012 to 2022 in the LAC region, by 6.1 percentage points (p.p.) among males and 8.2 p.p. among females, much higher than the corresponding OECD increases of 3.9 and 2.8 p.p., respectively (Figure 4.11). Venezuela is the only LAC country below the OECD percentage point change for both females and males, and the only one with a decline over the decade, although this decrease is observed only for men. Some of the countries with the highest obesity prevalence in 2022, such as Saint Kitts and Nevis and Belize (see Figure 4.10.) are not among those with the highest changes in growth. This suggests that obesity may have plateaued at very high levels in several Caribbean countries where prevalence was already above 40% in 2012. In contrast, some countries experiencing the highest obesity growth, including Brazil, Argentina and Peru, are not among those with the highest obesity prevalence in 2022. However, their rapid growth trends indicate that they could reach similar obesity prevalences as Caribbean countries if effective policies are not implemented.
Overweight prevalence has also increased from 2012 to 2022 in the LAC region, rising by 8.1 p.p. among women and by 6.6 p.p. among men, both above the OECD increases of 2.6 and 3.1 p.p., respectively (Figure 4.12). In Ecuador, Bolivia and Guatemala, the overweight prevalence increase over the decade was more than 34% higher in men than in women.
In 2022, countries approved the WHO Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity, that aims to halt globally rising obesity rates (WHO, 2023[2]). In the LAC region, nine countries are pioneering this initiative including Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. The Acceleration Plan recommends the application of front-of-package warning labels, restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy food products, regulation of foods offered in schools and the adoption of fiscal policies that promote healthy diets. This is complemented with surveillance policies such as Peru’s “multi-layered nutritional surveillance system (SIEN)”. However, the heterogeneity in obesity prevalence across the LAC region and the different country-specific contexts suggests that tailored policies are needed to achieve progress throughout the region (PAHO, 2025[3]). For countries experiencing very rapid growth in obesity over the last decade, there is a critical window for public health action, as evidence shows that without timely interventions, the burden of obesity is likely to continue rising as has occurred in other countries.
