Tonga
- Overview
- Obesity prevalence
- Trends over time
- Contextual factors
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National obesity risk *7.5/10This is a composite ‘obesity risk’ score (out of 10, the highest risk) based on obesity prevalence, rate of increase, likelihood of meeting the 2025 target, treatment indicator and childhood stunting levels.Childhood obesity risk *10/11This is a ‘risk score’ for each country’s likelihood of having or acquiring a major childhood obesity problem during the 2020s, taking account of current prevalence levels and risk for future obesity (based on stunting among infants, maternal obesity, maternal smoking, and breastfeeding rates).
Obesity prevalence
Trends over time
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The report card collates all the most-recent graphics for this country. If you would like to produce a custom report based on selected graphics, just tap the Add to custom PDF button below the graphics you would like to use.Population breakdowns
Drivers
Insufficient activity
Soft drink consumption
Fruit consumption
Vegetable consumption
Fast food consumption
Processed meat consumption
Grains consumption
Depression
Anxiety
Roots of obesity »
Like all chronic diseases, the root causes/drivers of obesity are complex. Select here to view 'other' root causes/drivers.Breastfeeding
Economic impact
Policies
Contextual factors
Obesity prevalence
Adults, 2017
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 18-69 |
| Sample size: | 3858 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
Adults, 2012
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 25-64 |
| Sample size: | 2599 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | STEPS Survey Tonga 2012 available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2012_Tonga_STEPSReport.pdf (last accessed 04.05.2020) |
| Notes: | STEPS |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
Adults, 2004
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 15-64 |
| Sample size: | 958 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
Adults, 1998-2000
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 15-85 |
| Sample size: | 1024 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Colaguir S, Colagiuri R, Na'ati S, Muimuiheata S, Hussain Z and Palau T. (2002). The prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga. Diabetes care, 25: 1378 - 1383. |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
Children, 2019
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 0-5 |
| Sample size: | 1271 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Tonga Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, Survey Findings Report. Nuku’alofa, Tonga: Tonga Statistics Department |
| Notes: | Infants. |
| Definitions: | Weight for height. Overweight = +2SD-+3SD. Obesity = >+3SD |
| Cutoffs: | Other |
Children, 2017
| Survey type: | Self-reported |
| Age: | 13-17 |
| Sample size: | 3333 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Tonga - Global School-Based Student Health Survey 2017 https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/gshs/tonga/en/ (Last accessed 20.10.20) |
| Cutoffs: | WHO |
Children, 2010
| Survey type: | Self-reported |
| Age: | 13-15 |
| Sample size: | 2111 |
| Area covered: | National |
| References: | Global School Health Student Survey Factsheet Tonga, available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/gshs/2010_GSHS_FS_Tonga.pdf?ua=1 (last accessed 14.12.20) |
| Cutoffs: | WHO |
Children, 2002-2003
| Survey type: | Measured |
| Age: | 5-11 |
| Sample size: | 895 |
| References: | Shoko Fukuyama a; Tsukasa Inaoka b; Yasuhiro Matsumura c; Taro Yamauchi a; Kazumi Natsuhara d; Ryosuke kimura e; Ryutaro Ohtsuka f. Anthropometry of 5-19-year-old Tongan children with special interest in the high prevalence of obesity among adolescent girls. Annals of Human Biology, Volume 32, Issue 6 November 2005 , pages 714 - 723 |
| Notes: | IOTF Cut off. Reference: Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: International survey. BMJ. 2000 May 6;320(7244):1240-3 |
| Cutoffs: | IOTF |
% Adults living with obesity, 1998-2017
Women
| Survey type: | Measured |
| References: | 1998: Colaguir S, Colagiuri R, Na'ati S, Muimuiheata S, Hussain Z and Palau T. (2002). The prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga. Diabetes care, 25: 1378 - 1383. 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2012: STEPS Survey Tonga 2012 available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2012_Tonga_STEPSReport.pdf (last accessed 04.05.2020) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
Men
| Survey type: | Measured |
| References: | 1998: Colaguir S, Colagiuri R, Na'ati S, Muimuiheata S, Hussain Z and Palau T. (2002). The prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga. Diabetes care, 25: 1378 - 1383. 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2012: STEPS Survey Tonga 2012 available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2012_Tonga_STEPSReport.pdf (last accessed 04.05.2020) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
% Adults living with overweight or obesity, 1998-2017
Women
| Survey type: | Measured |
| References: | 1998: Colaguir S, Colagiuri R, Na'ati S, Muimuiheata S, Hussain Z and Palau T. (2002). The prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga. Diabetes care, 25: 1378 - 1383. 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2012: STEPS Survey Tonga 2012 available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2012_Tonga_STEPSReport.pdf (last accessed 04.05.2020) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
Men
| Survey type: | Measured |
| References: | 1998: Colaguir S, Colagiuri R, Na'ati S, Muimuiheata S, Hussain Z and Palau T. (2002). The prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga. Diabetes care, 25: 1378 - 1383. 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2012: STEPS Survey Tonga 2012 available at https://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2012_Tonga_STEPSReport.pdf (last accessed 04.05.2020) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) |
| Unless otherwise noted, overweight refers to a BMI between 25kg and 29.9kg/m², obesity refers to a BMI greater than 30kg/m². | |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
% Adults living with obesity, selected countries, 1976-2023
Men
| References: | 1976, 1981, 1986: Yoshiike N, Seino F, Tajima S, Arai Y, Kawano M, Furuhata T, Inoue S. Twenty-year changes in the prevalence of overweight in Japanese adults: The National Nutrition Survey 1976-95. Obesity Reviews 2002;3:183-190 1993: Solon FS. Nutrition related chronic diseases in the Philippines. Makati city, Philippines: Nutrition Center of the Philippines Report Series, vol 2, No.1, cited in Reference 53 1995, 1996: Martorell R, Khan LK, Hughes ML, Grummer Strawn LM. Obesity in women from developing countries. EJCN (2000) 54;247-252 1998: Data provided by the Philippean Depatment of Health, Dr C. Barbu, data reanalysed by Dr Charmaine Duante. 2000: Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. The burden of overweight and obesity in the Asia-Pacific region. Obesity Reviews 2007;8:191-196. 2001: SCN (2004). 5th Report on the World Nutrition Situation. Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes. Appendix 11 2002: Report of the 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey. 2004. (In Chinese). Chinese Ministry of Public Health (CMPH). 2003: http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/files/fnri%20files/nns/factsandfigures2003/anthropometric.pdf (last accessed June 14th 2011) 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2005, 2013: Chang HC, Yang HC, Chang HY, et al. Morbid obesity in Taiwan: Prevalence, trends, associated social demographics, and lifestyle factors. PLoS One. 2017;12(2):e0169577. Published 2017 Feb 2. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169577 2006: Gerritsen S, Stefanogiannis N, Galloway Y, Devlin M, Templaton R and Yeh L. A portrait of health: key results of the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey. 2007: Mohamud WN, Musa KI, Khir AS, Ismail AA, Ismail IS, Kadir KA, Kamaruddin NA, Yaacob NA, Mustafa N, Ali O, Isa SH, Bebakar WM.Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult Malaysians: an update. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2011;20(1):35-41. 2009: Yan, S., Li, J., Li, S., Zhang, B., Du, S., Gordon-Larsen, P., Adair, L. and Popkin, B. (2012), The expanding burden of cardiometabolic risk in China: the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Obesity Reviews. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2012.01016.x 2011, 2012: New Zealand Health Survey. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2018-19-new-zealand-health-survey (last accessed 14.07.20) 2014: New Zealand Health Survey 2014/15. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2014-15-new-zealand-health-survey (last accessed 16.12.2015) 2015: 2015 Philippine Anthropometric Survey. http://enutrition.fnri.dost.gov.ph/site/preview.php?xx=%20uploads/2015_ANTHROPOMETRIC_SURVEY.pdf 2016: Ministry of Health. 2018. Annual Data Explorer 2017/18: New Zealand Health Survey [Data File]. URL: https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2017-18-annual-data-explorer/(last accessed 14th December 2017) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) 2018: New Zealand Health Survey 2018-19. New Zealand Ministry of Health (https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2018-19-annual-data-explorer/_w_b396d161/#!/key-indicators accessed 14.11.19) 2019: Institute for Public Health (IPH), National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia. 2020. National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019: Vol. I: NCDs – Non-Communicable Diseases: Risk Factors and other Health Problems 2020: Annual Update of New Zealand Health Survey 2020/2021 available at https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2020-21-new-zealand-health-survey Accessed 08.11.21. 2022: Australian National Health Survey 2022-2023. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/waist-circumference-and-bmi/2022#body-mass-index-bmi- (Accessed 03.01.2024) |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
Women
| References: | 1976, 1981, 1986: Yoshiike N, Seino F, Tajima S, Arai Y, Kawano M, Furuhata T, Inoue S. Twenty-year changes in the prevalence of overweight in Japanese adults: The National Nutrition Survey 1976-95. Obesity Reviews 2002;3:183-190 1993: Solon FS. Nutrition related chronic diseases in the Philippines. Makati city, Philippines: Nutrition Center of the Philippines Report Series, vol 2, No.1, cited in Reference 53 1995, 1996: Martorell R, Khan LK, Hughes ML, Grummer Strawn LM. Obesity in women from developing countries. EJCN (2000) 54;247-252 1998: Data provided by the Philippean Depatment of Health, Dr C. Barbu, data reanalysed by Dr Charmaine Duante. 2000: Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. The burden of overweight and obesity in the Asia-Pacific region. Obesity Reviews 2007;8:191-196. 2001: SCN (2004). 5th Report on the World Nutrition Situation. Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes. Appendix 11 2002: Report of the 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey. 2004. (In Chinese). Chinese Ministry of Public Health (CMPH). 2003: http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/files/fnri%20files/nns/factsandfigures2003/anthropometric.pdf (last accessed June 14th 2011) 2004: Tonga STEPS Survey 2004 2005, 2013: Chang HC, Yang HC, Chang HY, et al. Morbid obesity in Taiwan: Prevalence, trends, associated social demographics, and lifestyle factors. PLoS One. 2017;12(2):e0169577. Published 2017 Feb 2. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169577 2006: Gerritsen S, Stefanogiannis N, Galloway Y, Devlin M, Templaton R and Yeh L. A portrait of health: key results of the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey. 2007: Mohamud WN, Musa KI, Khir AS, Ismail AA, Ismail IS, Kadir KA, Kamaruddin NA, Yaacob NA, Mustafa N, Ali O, Isa SH, Bebakar WM.Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult Malaysians: an update. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2011;20(1):35-41. 2009: Yan, S., Li, J., Li, S., Zhang, B., Du, S., Gordon-Larsen, P., Adair, L. and Popkin, B. (2012), The expanding burden of cardiometabolic risk in China: the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Obesity Reviews. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2012.01016.x 2011, 2012: New Zealand Health Survey. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2018-19-new-zealand-health-survey (last accessed 14.07.20) 2014: New Zealand Health Survey 2014/15. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2014-15-new-zealand-health-survey (last accessed 16.12.2015) 2015: 2015 Philippine Anthropometric Survey. http://enutrition.fnri.dost.gov.ph/site/preview.php?xx=%20uploads/2015_ANTHROPOMETRIC_SURVEY.pdf 2016: Ministry of Health. 2018. Annual Data Explorer 2017/18: New Zealand Health Survey [Data File]. URL: https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2017-18-annual-data-explorer/(last accessed 14th December 2017) 2017: Tonga STEPS Survey 2017 https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog/713 (Last accessed 13.10.20) 2018: New Zealand Health Survey 2018-19. New Zealand Ministry of Health (https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2018-19-annual-data-explorer/_w_b396d161/#!/key-indicators accessed 14.11.19) 2019: Institute for Public Health (IPH), National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia. 2020. National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019: Vol. I: NCDs – Non-Communicable Diseases: Risk Factors and other Health Problems 2020: Annual Update of New Zealand Health Survey 2020/2021 available at https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/annual-update-key-results-2020-21-new-zealand-health-survey Accessed 08.11.21. 2022: Australian National Health Survey 2022-2023. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/waist-circumference-and-bmi/2022#body-mass-index-bmi- (Accessed 03.01.2024) |
| Different methodologies may have been used to collect this data and so data from different surveys may not be strictly comparable. Please check with original data sources for methodologies used. | |
