page_title: Epidemiology of obesity
section_title: Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Epidemiology of obesity / Europe
caption_attribution_description: Obesity in the Netherlands from 1981-2006 amongst adults 20+
context_page_description: Obesity has been observed throughout human history. Many early depictions of the human form in art and sculpture appear obese. However, it was not until the 20th century that obesity became common — so much so that, in 1997, the World Health Organization formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m², and in June 2013 the American Medical Association classified it as a disease, with much controversy.
  In countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, one child out of five is overweight or obese. Once considered a problem only of high-income countries, obesity rates are rising worldwide. Globally, there are now more people who are obese than who are underweight, a trend observed in every region over the world except parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In 2013, an estimated 2.1 billion adults were overweight, as compared with 857 million in 1980. Of adults who are overweight, 31% are obese. Increases in obesity have been seen most in urban settings.
  Since body fat can be measured in several ways, statistics on the epidemiology of obesity vary between sources.
context_section_description: Between the 1970s and the 2000s, rates of obesity in most European countries have increased. During the 1990s and 2000s, the 27 countries making up the EU reported rates of obesity from 10–27% in men and from 10–38% in women.
  The most recent combined Eurostat statistics, for 2009, show that, among the 19 EU Member States for which data are available, the proportion of obese people in the adult population varied in 2008/9 between 8.0% (Romania) and 23.9% (UK) for women and between 7.6% (Romania) and 24.7% (Malta) for men.  Overall the UK had the highest proportions, and Romania the lowest.  Men, the elderly and people with lower educations also have significantly higher obesity rates.
caption: Rates of obesity in the Netherlands between 1981 and 2006.
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