The United States gets criticized for being one of the fatter nations in the world. I've always wondered if that was true. Turns out its not. The United States it #9 in terms of the most obese nations from around the world.
Below is the list of the Top 20 most overweight countries in the world with the percentage of the population that's overweight.
Country % Overweight or obese
1. Nauru 94.5
2. Federated States of Micronesia 91.1
3. Cook Islands 90.9
4. Tonga 90.8
5. Niue 81.7
6. Samoa 80.4
7. Palau 78.4
8. Kuwait 74.2
9. United States 74.1
10. Kiribati 73.6
11. Dominica 71.0
12. Barbados 69.7
13. Argentina 69.4
14. Egypt 69.4
15. Malta 68.7
16. Greece 68.5
17. New Zealand 68.4
18. United Arab Emirates 68.3
19. Mexico 68.1
20. Trinidad and Tobago 67.9
On the other hand, the U.S. also ranks top 20 in the world in terms of healthiest nations in the world. Here's the list of the 15 Healthiest nations in the world.
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Finland
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Australia
- Denmark
- Canada
- Austria
- Netherlands
- United States
- Israel
- Czech Republic
- Spain
- France
I was surprised to see France at number 15 because I always hear about the great healthcare in France. The United States is going through a Healthcare crisis right now, with over 47 Million Americans without healthcare, but still manage to get on the top 15 list.
From both of these lists, are you surprised by any of the countries on the list? Are you surprised the United States made both lists below number 15?
Sources: World Health Organization, the World Bank and The UN
Comments (56)
i don't know how to explain this, but i know it's true.
something about people on tropical islands make them gain weight much more easily than other people. maybe it's because their diets before imports were so limited. but i am sure i heard that the list is skewed because of that.
@xueyo@xanga - cook islands was a location for my favorite season of survivor!!!!! :]
it's gorgeous.
interesting. what do they have besides trees and the sea? i'm just curious. the place sounds really cute!! maybe i could go there one day when i'm older..
@jesusmoshes2@xanga - really? i live in a sub of Toronto (Markham) and I go down to the city quite a bit and the people there are either 1. overweight 2. superskinny
either way most of the people are not healthy.
You almost have to cancel out the first 7 because they have an established genetic predisposition to being overweight. What would be a more accurate measure would be which countries have gained the most weight within the last 50 years (too short of a time period for changes in genetics).
Amazing information. Thank you! I want to dance with people from Nauru, then!
I CANNOT believe there's not any Asian country in the healthiest countrie's list.
yay canada!
3 out of every 4 americans are obese...
most disgusting thing ever...ewwwwI like that Canada isn't in the top 20 fattest places, but is number 8 on healthiest. I appreciate that, and I can definitely believe it. :) (I live in Toronto.)
I'm kind of surprised... I was half expecting us to be one of the fattest nations. Number 8 on the healthy list is pretty respectable!
@pinkkiex53@xanga - What a moron...
I'd like to know what their criteria is for the 'healthiest nation in the world'. Having a healthcare system doesn't necessarily make us healthy. I keep hearing that we are living 'longer than ever' - not true. People used to live well into their hundreds. It still happens now, but not as often as it used to. Preservatives, additives, unnatural chemicals in our system (vaccines, food stuffs, medications) may be hindering us more than they are helping us in the long run.
ok then i want to live in
<li>Iceland
<li>Sweden
<li>Finland
<li>Germany
<li>Switzerland
<li>Australia
<li>Denmark
<li>Canada
<li>Austria
<li>Netherlands
<li>United States
<li>Israel
<li>Czech Republic
<li>Spain
<li>France
what? US is listed here?!?!?!! cant believe it... im living in the US right now
Really? France at #15? But they're all walking sticks...
I wonder how it's possible for the U.S. to be both one of the most healthiest and fattest nations in the world.
@rei92@xanga - 'cause they're not exactly healthy... They really just DON'T eat.
They're all mostly skinny but skinny does not always mean healthy. Most people just don't have food (especially in the poverty-stricken parts of Asia), which is why they're so thin. Yeah, Beijing and Tokyo look like great cities, but once you step out of these cities...
eff all ya'll fatty foreign hypocrites that be pickin' on husky americans
THERE'S BUTTER ON YOUR HANDS TOO
Finland's just good at everything.
POPULATION!
consider that kthxbai
I love finland
Nauru? Where is that?
if america wants people skinnier, maybe they should stop selling fuckin mcdonalds cheeseburgers for a dollar and salads for like five. make the healthy food so people can afford it and maybe we wouldnt have such an obese america, assholes!
You know what they say about Statistics: The science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures.
Besides, it clearly says in the original article: "..due to incomplete data, we ranked only the 138 nations with statistics in every measure. That's why you don't see countries such as Monaco, Norway, Malta, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Ireland and Andorra--all of which had a shot of cracking the top 15 healthiest nations were they not missing information."
There is no Asian countries in this list, which is really weird to me, also. I quite sure that for example Japan would rank for one of the healthiest countries.
wow.
I love how alot of the countries that criticize Americans for being "fat and unhealthy" are either below us or not even on the top 15 healthiest nations.
Not surprised. Yay for Canada. We have fast food too, but you don't see us as #8 on the fatass scale.