Diet and healthy weight: monitoring report 2019

Adult overweight and obesity

Scottish Health Survey

Latest results

• In 2018, 65% of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including 28% who were obese.
• In 2018, 33% of adults aged 16 and over had a weight within the healthy range, the same as in 2017.
• There has been an increase in the proportion of adults aged 16-64 that are overweight (including obese) since 1995, from 52% to 63%. Most of this increase was seen between 1995 and 2008, with figures remaining broadly stable since then.
• In 2018, prevalence of overweight or obesity was significantly higher among men compared with women (68% and 63%, respectively). However, there was no significant difference between the proportion of men that were obese or morbidly obese compared with the proportion of women (27% compared to 30% respectively).
• Overweight (including obesity) prevalence was lowest among young people aged 16-24 (45%). A significantly higher proportion of those aged 25-34 were overweight (58%), with further increases with age up to age 65-74 (except for the 55-64 age group). More than three quarters of those aged 65-74 were overweight including obese (76%), and all age groups above 44 (except for 75+, 68%) had a prevalence of over 70%.

Figure 1. Proportion of adults with a healthy weight, overweight and obese, 1995-2018 (ages 16-64) and 2003 to 2018 (ages 16+)

• Although inequalities in overweight prevalence vary by sex and over time, obesity rates are consistently higher in Scotland's most deprived areas compared to the least deprived (Figure 2). The gap has been particularly pronounced for women in recent years - obesity rates in 2018 were 41% in the most deprived areas compared to 20% in the least deprived.

Figure 2. Proportion of obese adults (16+) by area deprivation^[6] and sex, 2003-2018

Definitions
Weight within the healthy range - BMI 18.5 to less than 25
Overweight - BMI 25+
Obese - BMI 30+

Geography available
Scotland level, Health Board, Local Authority (where sample sizes are sufficient).

Equalities data
Breakdowns by most equalities groups are possible. Breakdowns by age, sex, socio-economic status (SIMD) and disability (limiting long-term illness) are available in the SHeS 2018 supplementary tables.

Rationale for including adult overweight and obesity

These data are useful to monitor changes in the proportion of Scotland's adult population who are within the healthy weight range, overweight and obese. Different patterns amongst men and women of different ages can be identified.

The 16-64 trend is included to allow comparisons with the 1995 and 1998 Scottish Health Surveys, as they did not collect BMI data for all ages. In 1995, the sample was designed to provide a nationally representative sample of the working age population of Scotland (16-64) living in private households. In 1998, the upper age limit for adults was extended from 64 to 74.

Factors influencing adult overweight and obesity

• Diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour are strongly associated with BMI.
• Obesity is significantly associated with area-level deprivation (SIMD)^[7].