Share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay
Uruguay: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 13.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Uruguay recorded 13.5% for share of children who are overweight or obese in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 6.3% on the previous year and up 42.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay peaked at 13.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 9.2%, in 2007.
That places Uruguay 11th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.6% | — |
| 2001 | 9.5% | -1.0% |
| 2002 | 9.5% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 9.4% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 9.4% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 9.3% | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 9.3% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 9.2% | -1.1% |
| 2008 | 9.2% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 9.2% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 9.2% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 9.2% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 9.3% | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 9.4% | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 9.5% | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 9.6% | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 9.8% | +2.1% |
| 2017 | 10.1% | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 10.3% | +2.0% |
| 2019 | 10.7% | +3.9% |
| 2020 | 11.1% | +3.7% |
| 2021 | 11.5% | +3.6% |
| 2022 | 12.1% | +5.2% |
| 2023 | 12.7% | +5.0% |
| 2024 | 13.5% | +6.3% |
Uruguay compared with similar countries
- Uruguay's 13.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.6%, 1.6× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Uruguay's 13.5% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 7.9%, 1.7× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.4% | 9.2% | 9.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.7% | 9.2% | 10.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.2% | 11.1% | 13.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Uruguay
More reference data data for Uruguay
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2999 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.87 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.98 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3685 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 6.98 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.01 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2195 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 33.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.01 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Uruguay was 13.5% 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 Uruguay?
- The highest recorded value was 13.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Uruguay?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.2% in 2007.
- How does Uruguay rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Uruguay ranks 11th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Uruguay?
- Over the last ten years it is up 42.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Uruguay 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.