Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America and the Caribbean: Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight was 8.8 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded 8.8 % for percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% on the previous year and up 17.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean peaked at 8.8 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 6.7 %, in 2000.
That places Latin America and the Caribbean 10th out of 37 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.7 % | — |
| 2001 | 6.8 % | +1.5% |
| 2002 | 6.8 % | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 6.9 % | +1.5% |
| 2004 | 6.9 % | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 7 % | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 7 % | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 7 % | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 7.1 % | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 7.1 % | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 7.2 % | +1.4% |
| 2011 | 7.3 % | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 7.3 % | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 7.4 % | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 7.5 % | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 7.6 % | +1.3% |
| 2016 | 7.7 % | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 7.7 % | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 7.8 % | +1.3% |
| 2019 | 8 % | +2.6% |
| 2020 | 8.1 % | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 8.2 % | +1.2% |
| 2022 | 8.4 % | +2.4% |
| 2023 | 8.6 % | +2.4% |
| 2024 | 8.8 % | +2.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.93 % | 6.7 % | 7.1 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.55 % | 7.2 % | 8 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.42 % | 8.1 % | 8.8 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Latin America and the Caribbean
- 7 Paraguay 15.4 % compare
- 7 Türkiye 7.7 % compare
- 8 Trinidad and Tobago 15 % compare
- 8 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 7.3 % compare
- 9 Argentina 14.3 % compare
- 10 Cameroon 13.6 % compare
- 10 Micronesia 5.1 % compare
- 11 Greece 13.5 % compare
- 11 Uruguay 13.5 % compare
- 12 United Republic of Tanzania 4.7 % compare
- 13 Algeria 13.3 % compare
- 13 Democratic Republic of the Congo 4.2 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for Latin America and the Caribbean
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in 12.72 % (2025)
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO 9,098 1000 No (2025)
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in 7.12 % (2025)
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO 29,996 1000 No (2025)
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO 39,094 1000 No (2025)
- ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in 16.69 % (2025)
- Minimum dietary energy requirement (kcal/cap/day) — Value 1,861 kcal/cap/d (2025)
- Average dietary energy requirement (kcal/cap/day) — Value 2,409 kcal/cap/d (2025)
- Per capita food supply variability (kcal/cap/day) — Value 13 kcal/cap/d (2025)
- Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are stunted (modelled) 12.4 % (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean?
- Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean was 8.8 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.7 % in 2000.
- How does Latin America and the Caribbean rank for percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight?
- Latin America and the Caribbean ranks 10th out of 37 groups with data for 2024.
- Is percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight rising or falling in Latin America and the Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America and the Caribbean data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Percentage of children under 5 years of age who are overweight (modelled estimates) (percent) — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity is presented here. The choice of the indicators has been informed by expert judgement and the availability of data with sufficient coverage to enable comparisons across regions and over time. Many of these indicators are produced and published elsewhere by FAO and other international organizations. They are reported here in a single database with the aim of building a wide food security information system. More indicators will be added to this set as more data will become available. Indicators are classified along the four dimensions of food security -- availability, access, utilization and stability.