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Obesity in New Zealand
Key Facts

Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, gallstones and some cancers.

Nutrition-related factors including obesity are major risk factors for causes of death in New Zealand. The effect of increased body mass index (BMI) was estimated to be responsible for 11.5 percent of all deaths in 1997.

How obesity is measured

The most common method for measuring obesity rates, for population groups, is classifying by an index called the body mass index (BMI).

Body mass index (BMI) is defined as weight kg/height m².

How can I work out whether I'm obese?

The normal BMI range is 18.5–24.9 kg m²

Adults with a BMI of 25.0–29.9 are considered overweight

Adults with a BMI of 30 or greater are considered obese

Obesity for Maori and Pacific people

In New Zealand a BMI of 32 or more has been used to define obesity for Maori and Pacific people because studies have shown this slightly higher BMI is a more accurate index of fatness in these groups than that used for non-Maori and non Pacific people (see pages 50-51 Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Adults: A Background Paper).

These definitions of BMI cut-off points to classify for overweight and obesity have been increased to estimate the rates of obesity for Maori and Pacific peoples.

Obesity statistics for New Zealand adults

The 2002/03 New Zealand Health Survey reported that:

one in five New Zealand adults were obese
obesity in New Zealand adults over 15 years old has increased to 21 percent. The prevalence of obesity in 1989 was 11 percent, and in 1997 it was 17 percent.
27 percent of Maori men were obese
27 percent of Maori women were obese
36 percent of Pacific men were obese
47 percent of Pacific women were obese.

For more information and statistics, see A Portrait of Health - Key results of the 2002/03 New Zealand Health Survey.

Obesity statistics for New Zealand children

The BMI cut-off points for population groups of children are different to those of adults (see page 176 of NZ Food NZ Children - Findings of the 2002 National Children's Nutrition Survey).

The 2002 Children's Nutrition Survey showed that about one third of New Zealand children between 5-14 years were overweight (21 percent) or obese (10 percent).