Severe obesity is more common in boys than in girls

Difficult obesity is more common in Finnish boys than girls, according to the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) from last year’s statistics.

For the first time, data on the prevalence of severe obesity was published in statistics based on information from counseling centers and school health care.

According to statistics, 1.7 percent of boys and 0.6 percent of girls between the ages of 2 and 16 were severely obese last year.

In the statistics, a child’s weight index corresponding to an adult’s weight index has been used as a criterion for overweight and obesity. Severe obesity means that a child or young person has a body mass index of 35 or more.

The most common overweight and obesity were among boys and girls in the Satakunta welfare area and were rarest in Helsinki.

Severe obesity was most common in boys in Kainuu (2.9 percent) and in girls in the Satakunta welfare area (1.0 percent).

It was the least common among boys in Helsinki (1.0 percent) and among girls in Western Uusimaa and Helsinki (0.4 percent).

The statistical information is based on the height and weight data of approximately 496,000 children and adolescents. They were measured in children’s clinics and school health care during 2023. The data covers more than half of the country’s children and youth aged 2–16.

About a quarter of boys and just under a fifth of girls were obese or overweight last year. The proportions were 0.9 percentage points lower for boys and 0.4 percentage points lower for girls than in 2022.

Overweight or obesity was more common in boys than girls in all age groups.