Overweight adults
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year to November 2022, 63.8% of adults aged 18 and over were overweight or living with obesity – up by 0.5% from the previous year
- 70.8% of black adults were overweight or living with obesity – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 33.1% of adults from the Chinese ethnic group were overweight or living with obesity – the lowest percentage
- in the 6 years to November 2022, the percentage of white British adults who were overweight or living with obesity went up from 62.0% to 65.2% – it also went up for adults in the mixed (from 53.8% to 60.1%) and white 'other' (from 57.0% to 59.1%) ethnic groups
- the percentages were broadly similar to those from the year ending November 2016 for all other ethnic groups
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of adults (people aged 18 and older) in England who were overweight or living with obesity, by ethnicity.
People were asked for their height and weight. These figures were used to determine their body mass index (BMI). This indicates if a person is overweight or living with obesity.
A BMI of:
- 25 or more is classed as overweight
- 30 or more is classed as living with obesity
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point.
Not included in the data
16 and 17 year olds have been removed from this analysis to be consistent with the NHS healthy weight calculator.
How BMI is calculated
The metric formula for working out someone’s BMI is their weight in kilograms divided by their height in metres squared.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Estimates are shown for 7 ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- Chinese
- mixed
- white British
- white ‘other’
- 'other'
This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of people surveyed was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
The figures are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
People often underestimate their weight and overestimate their height. This means their self-reported body mass index (BMI) is known to be lower than it actually is. The data adjusts for this bias by using a formula based on observations from the Health Survey for England over several years, which included both self-reported and clinically-measured BMI figures.
In the data file
Download the data for unrounded data.
3. By ethnicity over time
| 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2015/16 % | 2015/16 Number of respondents | 2016/17 % | 2016/17 Number of respondents | 2017/18 % | 2017/18 Number of respondents | 2018/19 % | 2018/19 Number of respondents | 2019/20 % | 2019/20 Number of respondents | 2020/21 % | 2020/21 Number of respondents | 2021/22 % | 2021/22 Number of respondents |
| All | 61.2 | 170,273 | 61.3 | 166,213 | 61.9 | 151,677 | 62.0 | 153,837 | 62.6 | 149,476 | 63.3 | 148,763 | 63.8 | 146,844 |
| Asian | 57.6 | 6,018 | 56.3 | 6,142 | 56.3 | 4,890 | 56.6 | 5,349 | 59.9 | 5,781 | 56.9 | 6,050 | 57.6 | 6,631 |
| Black | 73.5 | 1,998 | 69.0 | 1,987 | 72.6 | 1,654 | 74.0 | 1,664 | 68.5 | 1,730 | 71.9 | 1,833 | 70.8 | 2,035 |
| Chinese | 36.4 | 857 | 32.7 | 873 | 32.8 | 741 | 35.3 | 804 | 31.2 | 837 | 37.5 | 1,004 | 33.1 | 1,121 |
| Mixed | 53.8 | 1,529 | 59.2 | 1,616 | 58.1 | 1,568 | 57.5 | 1,695 | 59.5 | 1,755 | 59.4 | 1,858 | 60.1 | 1,913 |
| White British | 62.0 | 146,869 | 62.3 | 142,038 | 62.8 | 129,957 | 62.8 | 131,724 | 63.5 | 127,113 | 64.3 | 126,053 | 65.2 | 123,005 |
| White other | 57.0 | 8,610 | 56.9 | 8,678 | 57.5 | 8,340 | 57.3 | 8,304 | 57.6 | 8,281 | 57.7 | 8,633 | 59.1 | 8,548 |
| Other | 58.5 | 1,191 | 60.3 | 1,084 | 59.1 | 972 | 53.1 | 1,028 | 61.3 | 1,118 | 65.8 | 1,150 | 59.4 | 1,221 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Active Lives Survey measures the number of people aged 16 and over who take part in sport and physical activity.
This data informs the government’s strategy on physical activity, Sporting Future, which looks at 5 aspects of physical activity:
- physical well-being
- mental well-being
- individual development
- social and community development
- economic development
The Active Lives Adults survey has previously been published twice a year:
- in April, covering the full year from November to November
- in October, covering covered the mid-year May to May period
Following an external consultation in early 2022, results are now only being published annually each April.
Secondary source
Public Health Outcomes Framework
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
Publication frequency
Quarterly
Purpose of data source
These outcomes reflect the focus on how long people live, their life expectancy, and also on how well they live, and their healthy life expectancy. The focus of the data is also on reducing these differences between people and communities from different backgrounds.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, denominator, upper_95_c_i, lower_95_c_i