Which areas in Europe have the highest childhood obesity rate?
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We’ve already seen which European countries have the highest obesity rates among adults. But how is the situation among European children?
The obesity rate among children will give us a bit more insight in the obesity rates among adults in the future. Some European countries might have relatively low obesity rates now, but it could be that they’re on track to become much more obese in the future.
The least obese countries in Europe are Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova and Switzerland. They also have the lowest childhood obesity rates. So, they’ll probably be the least obese countries in Europe for a while.
The most obese countries in Europe are Turkey, Malta and the UK. These countries have a high childhood obesity rate as well. That is not a good sign for the future. Despite that, they are not the European country with the highest childhood obesity rate, that is Greece (13.8%).
In most cases, countries with a high obesity rate, also have a high childhood obesity rate. There are however, a few countries where that is not the case. Italy’s obesity rate is one of the lowest in Europe. Their childhood obesity rate however, is one of the highest in Europe. A very worrying trend. Fortunately, there is also a positive trend. Lithuania is the 5th most obese country in Europe. Despite that, they have one of the lowest childhood obesity rate in Europe. So, let’s hope this will result in a lower obesity rate in Lithuania in the future.
Data for this map comes from the WHO.