Americas · Country profile
Obesity in Trinidad and Tobago
30.9% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 57th highest of 199 countries.
30.9%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 28.1%–33.8%
Source: WHO
379 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
17.4%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#57
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Trinidad and Tobago in numbers
In 2024, about 30.9% of adults in Trinidad and Tobago were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 28.1% to 33.8%). That is roughly 379 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 57th highest out of 199 countries. It is below the average for WHO’s Americas region (34.4%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 10.8%. Since then it has gone up by 20.1 percentage points — about 2.9 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 62 thousand to 379 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 36.8% compared with 24.8%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 17.4% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 1.9% in 1980 — around 49 thousand young people.
Obesity is not the only weight problem here: 5.5% of adults are underweight (BMI under 18.5). Health experts call this mix the “double burden” of malnutrition.
For context, 28.1% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 44.5% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,946 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Trinidad and Tobago: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 6.6% to 24.8%, and women from 14.7% to 36.8%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 6.6% | 14.7% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 7.9% | 16.8% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 9.6% | 19.1% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 11.7% | 21.7% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 14.3% | 24.7% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 16.8% | 27.3% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 19.0% | 29.7% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 20.9% | 32.0% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 23.0% | 34.6% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 24.8% | 36.8% | 16.2% |
Age-standardized WHO estimates. Shaded bands show the 95% uncertainty range.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Children & teens (5–19) with obesity in Trinidad and Tobago
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 1.7% to 18.9%, and girls from 2.1% to 15.9%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Trinidad and Tobago compared (2024)
What this meansHow Trinidad and Tobago’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Americas (WHO region)34.4%
- Trinidad and Tobago30.9%
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Trinidad and Tobago
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,283 calories a day in 1961 to 2,946 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Trinidad and Tobago
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 54. Grenada31.5%
- 55. Hungary31.4%
- 56. Uzbekistan31.2%
- 57. Trinidad and Tobago30.9%
- 58. Croatia30.8%
- 58. Dominican Republic30.8%
- 58. Suriname30.8%
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