Overweight in children — all countries

Overweight in children — Saudi Arabia

Overweight in children in Saudi Arabia in 2020 — 11.6%. Ranked 24 in the world out of 26. Since 1994, the indicator has risen by 10.4 pp.

2020 11.6% −1 pp vs 2019
World rank 24of 26
Period maximum 14.3%2016
Period minimum 1.2%1994

Trend over time

1994–2020 · % of children under 5

Overweight in children — Saudi Arabia, 1994–202005101519941997200020032006200920122015201820201994: 1.2%2004: 6.1%2015: 12.8%2016: 14.3%2017: 12.1%2018: 11.3%2019: 12.6%2020: 11.6%
Change over the period: +10.4 pp Annual average: 0.4 pp
Overweight in children — Saudi Arabia, by year Saudi Arabia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2020 11.6 −1 pp
2019 12.6 +1.3 pp
2018 11.3 −0.8 pp
2017 12.1 −2.2 pp
2016 14.3 +1.5 pp
2015 12.8
2004 6.1
1994 1.2

Western Asia, 2020

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.