Overweight and Obesity

According to self-reported data from 2019-2020, 46.6% of women and 60.5% of men in Germany are affected by overweight (including obesity). Nearly one-fifth of adults (19%) have obesity. Prevalence of overweight and obesity rise with increasing age.

Source: Robert Koch-Institut 2021, Survey GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS

In GEDA 2019/2020-EHIS, participants provide self-reported body weight and height. With self-reported data, body weight is often underestimated compared to standardized measured values, while body height tends to be overestimated. As a result, the body mass index (BMI) calculated with self-reported data is lower than a BMI calculated with measured data, so that overweight and obesity prevalence from the GEDA time series are lower than those from surveys with measured data. The last examination survey (DEGS1) was conducted between 2008 and 2011. At that time, half of women (53%) and two-thirds of men (67%) in Germany were affected by overweight. Obesity was observed among a quarter of adults (24% of women and 23% of men). According to KiGGS Wave 2 (2015-2017) in children and adolescents (3-17 years), 15 out of 100 children and adolescents were affected by overweight, and 6 out of 100 children and adolescents had obesity when applying the national reference system.

Overweight and obesity are contributing causes of many medical conditions and can stimulate the development of chronic diseases. Due to the increasing prevalence and the associated secondary diseases, substantial costs are incurred for the health and social systems. Overweight and obesity are therefore topics of high public health relevance.

The Robert Koch Institute regularly collects data on body size and weight as part of its health monitoring program and can thus make statements on overweight and obesity for the German population. The RKI's evaluations also look at correlations with other parameters, such as physical exercise and activity behavior, dietary behavior or social status.