Overweight and obesity rates have been increasing relentlessly over recent decades in all
industrialised countries, as well as in many lower income countries. OECD analyses of trends over time
support the grim picture drawn in the international literature and so do projections of overweight and
obesity rates over the next ten years. The circumstances in which people have been leading their lives over
the past 20-30 years, including physical, social and economic environments, have exerted powerful
influences on their overall calorie intake, on the composition of their diets and on the frequency and
intensity of physical activity at work, at home and during leisure time. Many countries have been
concerned not only about the pace of the increase in overweight and obesity, but also about inequalities in
their distribution across social groups, particularly by socio-economic status and by ethnic background.
