Share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia
Colombia: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 6.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia stood at 6.8%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.6% on the previous year and up 30.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia peaked at 6.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.6%, in 2000.
That places Colombia 67th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.6% | — |
| 2001 | 4.6% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 4.6% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 4.6% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 4.7% | +2.2% |
| 2005 | 4.7% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 4.7% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 4.8% | +2.1% |
| 2008 | 4.8% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 4.9% | +2.1% |
| 2010 | 4.9% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 5.0% | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 5.1% | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 5.1% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 5.2% | +2.0% |
| 2015 | 5.3% | +1.9% |
| 2016 | 5.4% | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 5.5% | +1.9% |
| 2018 | 5.6% | +1.8% |
| 2019 | 5.8% | +3.6% |
| 2020 | 5.9% | +1.7% |
| 2021 | 6.1% | +3.4% |
| 2022 | 6.3% | +3.3% |
| 2023 | 6.5% | +3.2% |
| 2024 | 6.8% | +4.6% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 6.8% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 91% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 6.8% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 7.9%, 86% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.7% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.3% | 4.9% | 5.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.3% | 5.9% | 6.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More reference data data for Colombia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 11.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4113 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 19.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 9.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 2.67 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 61.25 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 94.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.24 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Colombia was 6.8% in 2024, according to World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 6.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.6% in 2000.
- How does Colombia rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Colombia ranks 67th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Colombia data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are overweight or obese. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of children under five years old that are defined as overweight or obese. A child is classified as overweight if their weight-for-height is more than two standard deviations from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards.