NEAR EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Regional overview of food security and nutrition 2021: Statistics and trends

2.3 Overweight among children under five

In the Arab region, 10.7 percent of children under five years were overweight in 2020, up from 9.4 percent in 2000. Childhood overweight is a high public health problem in the region, exceeding the global average of 5.7 percent (medium). Lower-middle-income economies are the most affected, with 15 percent (very high public health problem), followed by upper-middle-income economies (10.9 percent, high), high-income economies (7.4 percent, medium) and low-income economies (4.7 percent, low). The prevalence of overweight is high among children under five years in non-conflict countries, whereas it is medium in conflict-affected countries. Data shows a steady increase in childhood overweight in the region since 2000. Overweight has mainly been on the rise in lower-middle income, high income and upper-middle income countries of the region. In contrast, the low-income countries displayed a declining trend in childhood overweight in the past two decades.

The prevalence of overweight is a very high public health problem in five countries of the region: Egypt (17.8 percent), Lebanon (19.7 percent), Libya (25.4 percent), the Syrian Arab Republic (18.2 percent) and Tunisia (16.5 percent). The levels are high in three other countries: Algeria (12.9 percent), Morocco (11.3 percent) and Qatar (13.9 percent). Only five countries in the region displayed a low prevalence of childhood overweight, including four LDCs, Mauritania, the Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, as well as one high-income country, Oman. In the past two decades, overweight in children under five years has declined in eight countries: the Comoros, Djibouti, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, the Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. All other countries in the region showed increases during this period. The most significant increase (12 percent) over this period is in Tunisia.