Overweight in children — all countries

Overweight in children — China

Overweight in children in China in 2017 — 8.5%. Ranked 24 in the world out of 31. Since 1990, the indicator has risen by 3.2 pp.

2017 8.5% −0.6 pp vs 2013
World rank 24of 31
Period maximum 13.6%1995
Period minimum 3.4%2000

Trend over time

1990–2017 · % of children under 5

Overweight in children — China, 1990–201705101519901993199619992002200520082011201420171990: 5.3%1992: 7.2%1995: 13.6%1998: 5.5%2000: 3.4%2002: 9.2%2005: 5.9%2008: 5.8%2009: 5.7%2010: 6.6%2013: 9.1%2017: 8.5%
Change over the period: +3.2 pp Annual average: 0.12 pp
Overweight in children — China, by year China All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2017 8.5
2013 9.1
2010 6.6 +0.9 pp
2009 5.7 −0.1 pp
2008 5.8
2005 5.9
2002 9.2
2000 3.4
1998 5.5
1995 13.6
1992 7.2
1990 5.3

Eastern Asia, 2017

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose weight exceeds the WHO norm for their height by more than two standard deviations. The indicator matters in that it grows at the same time as stunting in the very same countries: a diet of cheap calories produces both the one and the other, and this is the core of the notion of the double burden of malnutrition. Overweight in children used to be considered a problem of rich countries — now it is growing fastest in middle-income countries.

Important: The data come from sample surveys, the years are intermittent. The aggregate by group is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.