Most experts believe that the world is currently battling an obesity epidemic. In fact, the global average for obesity now stands at 13 percent. While many associate obesity with wealthy nations, such as Australia and Russia, poorer countries are hardly immune from its effects.
This interactive map, based on data in World Policy Journal‘s Fall Anatomy, examines the economic and cultural forces behind the world’s fattest and thinnest nations across the socio-economic spectrum. As the map demonstrates, the thinnest nations tend to be located in either Africa or Asia, for reasons spanning from poverty to culture.
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[Compiled by Eunsun Cho and Katya Dajani] [Interactive map compiled by Liza Kane-Harnett] [Photo courtesy of Tony Alter]