Obesity
| Updated: 29.6.2012 - Next update: 28.6.2013 |
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The percentage of obese persons has increased among 25-64 year olds
The percentage of those with a body mass index at 30 kg/m² or more, calculated on the basis of self-reported weight and height, has increased continuously since the late 1980s. At the end of the 2000s, the percentage of obese people was almost double that of the beginning of the 1980s.
Among women, on average the percentage of obese people was slightly lower than among men in the 1990s and early 2000s, but at the end of the 2000s there were only minor differences between the genders in this regard. In 2011, 19 per cent of men aged 25-64, and 18 per cent of women had a BMI of at least 30kg/m².
Source:
National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
Description of indicator
The question on height was: ‘How tall are you?’ The question on weight was: ‘What is your weight, measured when wearing light clothing?’ The actual calculation of BMI is weight divided by height squared. Body mass index is the most commonly used method of determining the degree of obesity. BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² is the internationally approved limit for obesity.
Data material: Annual postal survey ‘Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population’ (AVTK survey) since 1978.
