Which is the fittest country in the world

Most Obese Countries 2024

Obesity is a growing global concern. Data suggests the number of obese people in the world has tripled since 1975 to approximately 2.1 billionroughly 30% of the total populationand this number continues to rise.

Obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death, dramatically decreasing not just a person's overall quality of life but also their life expectancy. Obesity puts people at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, and even certain types of cancer. Additional health risks from diabetes include osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, kidney disease, strokes, and high blood pressure. Pregnant women who are obese may suffer from complications that can lead to health problems for the mother or child.

Because of the many health concerns associated with obesity, it can be used as a major overall health indicator of a population. The healthiest countries in the world generally have lower obesity rates.

The good and bad of BMI

One frequently used measure of obesity all over the world is Body Mass Index, or BMI. Introduced in the 1830s, this measure considers a person's weight in relation to their height. A normal BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, and a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Despite its popularity, BMI is widely considered to be a flawed metric. It fails to consider vital influencing factors such as body type, gender, age, and bone density. Moreover, BMI can't distinguish between muscle and fat.

This can lead to clearly inaccurate results, particularly in athletes. For example, professional wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in his prime was a heavily muscled picture of physical fitnessbut his 6'2" height and 252-lb (114kg) weight gave him a BMI of 32.4, classifying him as obese.

Because of results such as these, BMI is a fairly imprecise determiner of whether or not a given person is overweight. However, because of its global ubiquity, it remains the best currently available metric to use for country-to-country comparisons.

A newer, but notably more consistent test for obesity is waist-to-height ratio, or WHtR. According to WHtR, a person is obese if the circumference of their waist measures more than half their height. Thus, a WHtR of .5 or lower is healthy, and a WHtR of higher than .5 is obese (though the cutoff rises to .6 for patients aged 50 and older).

Obesity from country to country

National obesity is typically measured by examining either the average BMI of its citizens or the percentage of citizens whose BMI qualifies as obese. These methods give similar, but different results. For example, the World Health Organization's 2016 data yields the following results:

10 Most Obese Countries in the World, 2016 (measured by average BMI)*:

10 Most Obese Countries in the World, 2016 (measured by percentage of obese adults)*:

While it's easy to assume that the easy availability of rich, decadent foods in the world's wealthiest and most developed countries would make them the most obese, this isn't always the case. The United States and the United Kingdom are two of the most economically rich and developed countries globally. However, they'd place 18th and 48th respectively when ranked by BMI, and 123rd and 95th when ranked by percentage of obese adults.

Oceania seems to be especially challenged by obesity. One proposed cause is that foreigners taught the locals to fry their meals, abandoning their traditional cultivation, preparation, and preserving skills. Other possible factors include genetic predisposition; an increased tendency to replace local food sources with less nutritious imported options; and the rise of fast-food restaurants, which have replaced healthier local food (a scenario mirrored in Kuwait).

Additionally, the World Health Organization posits that the rising costs of healthy food and increased food scarcity in underdeveloped nations is a contributing factor to obesity in poor and/or developing nations and least developed nations.

These Are the Healthiest Countries in the World, According to a 2023 Study

If youve ever visited one of the healthiest countries in the world, then you already know what it feels like to end a trip feeling stronger and more refreshed than when you started. Theres something about following in the footsteps of citizens with impeccable diets and universal health care that simply makes you feel healthierwithout counting calories or taking frequent trips to the hotel gym.

There are many factors that determine how healthy a country isfrom life expectancy to the quality of hospitalsas evidenced by the cache of annual rankings scattered across the internet. While Bloombergs Global Health Index has historically been the most popular version of this type of list, the index hasnt been updated since the COVID-19 pandemicsomething which very obviously affected global health as a whole.

We were curious which countries have been able to stay relatively well since 2020 (or at least well enough to still be recognized on worldwide rankings), so we referred to a recent study from CEOWORLD magazine to compile this years list. The study pulled data from several reputable sources, including the United Nations Population Division, the World Bank, the Lancet study, and the World Health Organizationthe latter of which pays particular attention to factors like COVID-related deaths and vaccination rates.

The bad news: The United States did not make the top 10 (it currently sits at position 45). The good news: Some of our absolute favorite countries are ranked among the worlds healthiest, which means you can sample some amazing cuisines and see one-of-a-kind landscapes while tackling those resolutions. Without further ado, here are the healthiest countries to visit next.

This article has been updated since its original publish date.

Finland and Uganda are the world's fittest countries here's what they do to stay in shape

Some of the world's fittest people have homes on the Equator, while others chill in "Santa Claus Village" near the North Pole.

The World Health Organization (WHO) analyzed the fitness levels of people in 168 countries from 2001 to 2016, and one made it to the top: Uganda. Among rich Western countries where people's jobs often require less moving around and lifting Finland was the leader.

Being the most in shape doesn't always mean you're the healthiest overall: Uganda doesn't even make the top 50 countries in Bloomberg's 2019 global health rankings, which compares countries based on factors like life expectancy and obesity rates, along with environmental considerations like access to clean water and sanitation.

Here's what people in both Finland and Uganda do better than the rest of us, when it comes to fitness.

Hottest Countries in the World 2024

The first step in determining the hottest country in the world is to decide what qualifies a country as the hottest. For example, is it the country that recorded the single hottest temperature in the world in a given year? If so, that's Kuwait, whose city of Nuwaiseeb reached 53.2C (127.7F) on June 22, 2021. Is it the country that recorded the hottest temperature in modern history? That would be the United States, which hit 56.7C (134F) in Death Valley, California in 1913. Is it the country that has the hottest average summer temperature, never mind the winter temperatures? Is it the country with the hottest average year-round temperature over the past 30 years? While all of these metrics have merit, this article will be using the last one mentioned.

Top 10 Hottest Countries in the World 1991-2020 (by average annual temperature C/F)

Mali is the hottest country in the world, with an average yearly temperature of 83.89F (28.83C). Located in West Africa, Mali actually shares borders with both Burkina Faso and Senegal, which follow it on the list. A large part of Mali is covered by the Sahara Desert, and most of the country receives minimal rain, making drought a frequent concern.

How hot is the hottest country on Earth?

At first glance, 28.83C / 83.89F seems surprisingly cool. But keep in mind these are not average summertime highs, but average overall temperatures. That means this number includes not just the summer highs, but both day and night temperatures not only in summer, but also in the spring, fall, and winter months. For example, daytime highs in Timbuktu, Mali average between 97F and 108F from March through mid-Octoberin fact, the average daily high in January, the coolest month of the year, is still 83F. But cooler winter nights in the 58-65F range lower the yearly average temperature down to a seemingly innocuous, but actually brutal mid-80s (F) average.

Where are the Earth's hottest countries?

As a rule, countries closer to the Earth's equator (zero degrees latitude) experience warmer temperatures year-round than countries farther north or south of the equator. As one moves closer to the poles (further north in the Northern Hemisphere or south in the Southern Hemisphere), the seasonal weather variation and range of temperatures experienced over the course of a year increases, including significantly colder temperatures in the winter.

Why are temperate countries cooler?

The main reason countries near the equator experience hotter temperatures is the shape of the Earth. Because the Earth is roughly spherical, sunlight strikes the equator at a nearly perpendicular angle, which concentrates it in a smaller area and makes it more likely to be absorbed. However, the sunlight that strikes the poles does so at an increased angle, which spreads the sunlight over a greater area and makes it more likely to ricochet off (especially in areas already covered in snow). In addition, approaching at an increased angle means the sunlight must penetrate a thicker layer of atmosphere, increasing the odds of the sunlight getting reflected, deflected or absorbed by atmospheric particles before it reaches the surface. As a result, the closer a country is to the poles, the less solar energy it absorbs and the cooler it is overall.

A second, closely related cause of temperature variation is the tilt of the Earth's axis. In fact, the Earth's tiltnot slight variations in its distance from the sunis the reason Earth has seasons. From roughly May-September each year, the Earth's tilted axis points the North Pole toward the sun, enabling sunlight to strike the Northern Hemisphere at a more direct angle. More sunlight is absorbed, and the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer. Six months later, the Earth will have completed half its orbit and its North Pole will now point away from the sun. When this happens, the Northern Hemisphere absorbs less sun and moves into fall and winter. However, because the South Pole now points toward the sun, the Southern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight and enjoys its own spring and summer.

Do changes in climate correspond to national borders?

While geographical features such as lakes and mountain ranges can definitely impact weather and climate, national borders are typically determined by politics rather than geography. Therefore, national borders tend to have no effect upon climate, weather, and temperatures. Climates and temperatures vary greatly between countries and even within countries. This is especially true in large countries, such as the United States or Russia. The U.S. states have a huge variety of climates depending on their latitude and proximity to oceans, mountains, or the Great Lakes.

Are the world's hottest countries getting hotter?

Scientific evidence indicates that the entire planet is getting hotter. As such, every country in the world, from hottest to coolest, will likely experience a rise in average annual temperatures. According to the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded. Moreover, multiple studies from sources including NASA and the NOAA indicate that the period from 2014-2020 was the warmest six-year stretch in at least the past 171 years. Studies such as these offer overwhelming evidence that human-influenced global warming and climate change is both real and happening. However, significant questions remain regarding exactly how much temperatures will ultimately rise and what humans can and will do to prevent, counteract, or adapt to it.