Youth obesity is rising fastest where prevalence is still low.
… of the world's school-age children and adolescents live with obesity, up from … in 1990. The global average hides where the rise is happening.
Ranked by annual percent change instead of level, the fastest-rising countries are …: countries that started near zero in 1990.
Most of the 20 fastest-rising countries are in …. High-income countries have the highest levels; the fastest growth is elsewhere.
This is why I chart the trend next to the level. Levels show where the problem is. Trends show where it will be.
Method note. Data: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration age-standardised obesity prevalence, ages 5–19, 200 countries, 1990–2024. Velocity = average annual percent change (AAPC) over the full window. No smoothing, no exclusions; the five series above are plotted exactly as published. Explore the full dataset in the interactive dashboard.