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One in five Indonesian adults obese: National survey
The latest survey shows that one in every three adults in Indonesia has a weight problem.
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This year's Basic Health Survey, released on Friday, shows an increasing trend in overweight and obesity among Indonesian adults since 2013. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) 2018 released on Friday shows that the trend of weight problems in Indonesian adults has increased from 2007 to 2018.
The survey's latest figures for obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of more than 27, showed a general increase from 14.8 percent of the population in 2013 to 21.8 percent this year.
The overweight population of adults aged 18 and above reached 13.6 percent this year, from 11.5 percent in 2013.
This means that 35.4 percent of the roughly 260 million population, or about one in every three adults, have weight problems.
The survey, which involved 300,000 families or about 1.2 million people, found that about a third of Indonesians aged 15 and above had an unhealthy waist circumference.
This year's health survey found that 31 percent of this age group had "central obesity", or excessive fat around the stomach and abdomen. The indicator for central obesity is a waist circumference of more than 80 cm for women and more than 90 cm for men.
The Health Ministry highlighted weight problems in its statement that accompanied the survey's release. "We have to pay attention to the trend of increasing obesity from 2007 to 2018," it said. (evi)
