Share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama
Panama: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 10.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Panama recorded 10.9% for share of children who are overweight or obese in 2024.
The figure is down 1.8% on the previous year and down 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama peaked at 11.5% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 2000.
That places Panama 27th out of 163 countries 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.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8.3% | — |
| 2001 | 8.6% | +3.6% |
| 2002 | 8.9% | +3.5% |
| 2003 | 9.2% | +3.4% |
| 2004 | 9.4% | +2.2% |
| 2005 | 9.6% | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 9.8% | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 10.0% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 10.2% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 10.4% | +2.0% |
| 2010 | 10.6% | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 10.8% | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 11.0% | +1.9% |
| 2013 | 11.1% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 11.3% | +1.8% |
| 2015 | 11.3% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 11.4% | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 11.4% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 11.5% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 11.5% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 11.4% | -0.9% |
| 2021 | 11.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 11.2% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 11.1% | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 10.9% | -1.8% |
Panama compared with similar countries
- Panama's 10.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.6%, 1.3× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Panama's 10.9% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 7.9%, 1.4× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.4% | 8.3% | 10.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.2% | 10.6% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.2% | 10.9% | 11.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Panama
More reference data data for Panama
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1446 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.6179 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.9793 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0285 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.9793 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4849 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2267 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.08 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1553 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Panama was 10.9% 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 Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 11.5% in 2018.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 2000.
- How does Panama rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Panama ranks 27th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Panama 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.