Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female (% of children under 5) by country

Prevalence of overweight, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations above the median for the international reference population of the corresponding age as established by the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.

Countries reporting
85
Highest
15.4%
Russian Federation
Lowest
0.5%
Myanmar
Median
4.0%
Years covered
39
1986–2024
Data points
718

What the numbers show

Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female (% of children under 5) is currently reported for 85 countries. The highest value is 15.4% in Russian Federation; the lowest is 0.5% in Myanmar.

The median across all reporting countries is 4.0%, and the mean is 5.1%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 31.

Over the past decade 41 countries rose and 41 fell. The largest increase was in Côte d'Ivoire (up 158.3%), and the largest decrease in Myanmar (down 80.8%).

Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Russian Federation 15.4% 2005 up 22.2% rising
2 Armenia 12.7% 2016 up 41.1% rising
3 Algeria 12.1% 2019 down 2.4% rising
4 Paraguay 11.9% 2016 up 60.8% rising
5 Uruguay 11.8% 2018 up 63.9% rising
6 Saudi Arabia 11.5% 2020 rising
7 Thailand 11.3% 2022 down 2.6% rising
8 Kazakhstan 10.0% 2015 down 38.3% volatile
9 Mongolia 9.8% 2018 unchanged rising
10 Cameroon 9.7% 2018 down 10.2% rising
11 Morocco 9.5% 2019 up 6.7% rising
11 Eswatini 9.5% 2021 down 15.2% falling
13 United States of America 9.4% 2022 up 30.6% rising
14 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 9.2% 2016 up 13.6% flat
15 Egypt 8.8% 2021 down 58.5% rising
16 Jordan 8.7% 2023 up 128.9% rising
17 Kuwait 8.5% 2023 up 25.0% rising
18 Kyrgyzstan 8.4% 2023 up 3.7% falling
18 El Salvador 8.4% 2021 up 68.0% rising
20 Nicaragua 7.9% 2012 up 31.7% rising
21 Lesotho 7.3% 2024 up 5.8% rising
21 Mexico 7.3% 2022 down 18.9% rising
23 Dominican Republic 7.1% 2019 down 5.3% rising
24 Guyana 7.0% 2019 down 17.6% rising
25 Peru 6.9% 2023 down 4.2% falling
25 Palestine, State of 6.9% 2020 up 50.0% rising
27 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 6.8% 2019 up 4.6% flat
27 Türkiye 6.8% 2018 down 20.0% rising
29 Korea 5.7% 2020 up 5.6% falling
30 China 5.6% 2010 up 100.0% falling
31 Rwanda 5.4% 2020 down 22.9% flat
31 Jamaica 5.4% 2018 down 28.9% rising
33 Tajikistan 5.2% 2023 down 18.8% volatile
34 Zambia 5.0% 2018 down 39.8% falling
35 Guatemala 4.8% 2015 up 11.6% rising
36 Colombia 4.7% 2016 up 14.6% falling
37 Malaysia 4.5% 2022 down 30.8% falling
37 Honduras 4.5% 2019 down 13.5% rising
39 Ecuador 4.3% 2024 down 43.4% rising
40 Liberia 4.2% 2019 up 55.6% falling
40 Oman 4.2% 2017 up 110.0% rising
42 Indonesia 4.0% 2023 down 64.6% volatile
42 Djibouti 4.0% 2023 volatile
44 Malawi 3.9% 2020 down 51.2% volatile
45 Kenya 3.8% 2022 up 8.6% falling
46 Philippines 3.7% 2021 up 12.1% rising
46 Uzbekistan 3.7% 2021 down 68.6% volatile
48 Azerbaijan 3.6% 2023 down 71.9% falling
48 Haiti 3.6% 2023 up 16.1% falling
50 Tanzania, United Republic of 3.5% 2022 down 20.5% flat
50 Cambodia 3.5% 2021 up 84.2% volatile
52 Viet Nam 3.4% 2010 up 30.8% rising
52 India 3.4% 2020 up 100.0% falling
52 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 3.4% 2023 down 22.7% falling
55 Guinea 3.2% 2022 up 6.7% falling
55 Uganda 3.2% 2022 down 28.9% falling
57 Mozambique 3.1% 2022 down 59.2% falling
57 Côte d'Ivoire 3.1% 2021 up 158.3% falling
59 Maldives 3.0% 2017 down 50.0% volatile
60 Benin 2.9% 2021 up 107.1% flat
61 Sierra Leone 2.8% 2021 up 86.7% falling
62 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2.7% 2023 up 28.6% rising
63 Pakistan 2.6% 2018 down 59.4% flat
64 Gambia 2.3% 2020 up 53.3% falling
65 Ethiopia 2.2% 2019 up 4.8% falling
65 Zimbabwe 2.2% 2019 down 18.5% falling
67 Chad 2.0% 2022 down 33.3% falling
68 Ghana 1.8% 2022 down 28.0% volatile
68 Sri Lanka 1.8% 2016 up 12.5% volatile
68 Bangladesh 1.8% 2022 down 14.3% rising
71 Yemen 1.7% 2022 up 6.2% volatile
72 Togo 1.6% 2017 up 33.3% falling
72 Madagascar 1.6% 2021 up 60.0% volatile
72 Nigeria 1.6% 2021 down 40.7% volatile
75 Central African Republic 1.5% 2019 down 11.8% volatile
76 Senegal 1.4% 2023 up 55.6% volatile
76 Burundi 1.4% 2020 down 48.1% rising
78 Guinea-Bissau 1.3% 2019 down 48.0% falling
78 Mali 1.3% 2024 up 44.4% volatile
78 Timor-Leste 1.3% 2020 down 77.2% volatile
81 Burkina Faso 1.2% 2021 up 100.0% volatile
82 Nepal 1.0% 2022 down 37.5% volatile
83 Mauritania 0.8% 2021 down 77.1% volatile
84 Niger 0.5% 2022 down 28.6% volatile
84 Myanmar 0.5% 2018 down 80.8% volatile

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-overweight-weight-for-height-female-percent-of-children-under-5/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-overweight-weight-for-height-female-percent-of-children-under-5/">Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female by country</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height, female (% of children under 5)
Unit
% of children under 5
Source
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology., UN Children'
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
85 places, 718 data points, 1986–2024
Last refreshed

Prevalence of overweight, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations above the median for the international reference population of the corresponding age as established by the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.