Obesity

Obesity in New Zealand
www.moh.govt.nz/obesity

The World Health Organization now describes the prevalence of obesity as an epidemic. There's been a rise in obesity in New Zealand in recent decades - from 9% (males) and 11% (females) in 1977 to 20% and 22% respectively in 2003.

The 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey found that:

one in three adults were overweight (36.3%) and one in four obese (26.5%).
one in five children aged 2 to 14 years were overweight (20.9%) and one in twelve was obese (8.3%).

In this section you'll find:

Key facts and statistics
A Portrait of Health: Key Results from the 2006/2007 New Zealand Health Survey were released in June 2008. Here you'll find obesity statistics for New Zeland adults and children, ethnic information, and other obesity-related health statistics.

Questions and answers
Find out more about obesity, why it's a problem, and what the Ministry of Health is doing about it.

How obesity is measured
Learn about the most common method for measuring obesity rates - mass index (BMI), including a calculation to find out whether you're obese.

Publications
Includes obesity-related reports, policy documents, sources of survey information, and analysis of survey data.

Related information

Healthy Eating Health Action Logo.

Healthy Eating – Healthy Action (HEHA) is the Ministry of Health’s strategic approach to improving nutrition, increasing physical activity and achieving healthy weight for all New Zealanders.

Physical Activity

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Page last updated: 1 July 2009