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1. Main facts and figures
- in the year to November 2019, 62.3% of adults (people aged 18 and over) were overweight or obese, a similar percentage to the previous year (62.0%)
- Black adults were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be overweight or obese
- White British adults were also more likely than average to be overweight or obese
- adults from the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely out of all ethnic groups to be overweight or obese
- the percentage of adults in the Asian, White Other, Mixed and Other ethnic groups who were overweight or obese was lower than the national average
- the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese was similar to the year ending November 2016 in every ethnic group except White British, which saw an increase
- any apparent increases or decreases in other ethnic groups aren’t meaningful because of the smaller number of people surveyed
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of adults (people aged 18 and older) in England who were overweight or obese, by ethnicity.
People were asked for their height and weight. These figures were used to determine their BMI, which indicates if a person is overweight or obese.
A BMI of:
- 25 or more is classed as overweight
- 30 or more is classed as obese
Data is rounded to 1 decimal point.
Not included in the data
16 and 17 year olds have been removed from this analysis to be consistent with the NHS healthy weight calculator.
How BMI is calculated
The metric formula for working out someone’s BMI is their weight in kilograms divided by their height in metres squared.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Estimates are shown for 7 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Chinese
- Mixed
- White British
- White Other
- Other ethnicity
People whose ethnicity wasn’t known are included in the ‘All’ group and are not shown separately in the charts and tables.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
The figures on this page are based on data from the Active Lives Survey. Find out more about interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed.
Data has been weighted to ONS population measures for geography and key demographics. Read more about how weighting is used to make survey results more representative.
People often underestimate their weight and overestimate their height. This means their self-reported body mass index (BMI) is known to be lower than it actually is. The data adjusts for this bias by using a formula based on observations from several years of the Health Survey for England which included both self-reported and clinically-measured BMI figures.
In the data file
See Download the data for unrounded data.
3. By ethnicity over time
| 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2015/16 % | 2015/16 Number of respondents | 2016/17 % | 2016/17 Number of respondents | 2017/18 % | 2017/18 Number of respondents | 2018/19 % | 2018/19 Number of respondents |
| All | 61.3 | 170,273 | 61.3 | 166,213 | 62.0 | 151,677 | 62.3 | 152,979 |
| Asian | 57.9 | 6,018 | 56.3 | 6,142 | 57.0 | 4,890 | 56.2 | 5,254 |
| Black | 72.8 | 1,998 | 69.0 | 1,987 | 72.8 | 1,654 | 73.6 | 1,634 |
| Chinese | 36.0 | 857 | 31.5 | 873 | 34.5 | 741 | 35.3 | 799 |
| Mixed | 54.6 | 1,529 | 57.3 | 1,616 | 58.5 | 1,568 | 57.0 | 1,654 |
| White British | 62.0 | 146,869 | 62.3 | 142,038 | 62.9 | 129,957 | 63.3 | 131,104 |
| White other | 57.0 | 8,610 | 57.6 | 8,678 | 57.8 | 8,340 | 58.1 | 8,262 |
| Other | 58.5 | 1,191 | 59.5 | 1,084 | 58.3 | 972 | 52.6 | 1,018 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Overweight adults By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that:
- in the 12 months to November 2019, 62.3% of adults (people aged 18 and over) in England were overweight or obese
- 73.6% of Black adults were overweight or obese, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- White British adults were more likely than average to be overweight or obese (63.3%)
- 35.3% of adults from the Chinese ethnic group were overweight or obese, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese was lower than the national average in the Asian (56.2%), Other White (58.1%) Other (52.6%) and Mixed (57.0%) ethnic groups
- percentages were broadly similar to those from the year ending November 2016 for all ethnic groups except White British, where it increased from 62.0% to 63.3%
- any apparent increases or decreases in other ethnic groups aren’t meaningful because of the smaller number of people surveyed
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Sport England
Note on corrections or updates
Data is published twice a year. It uses survey responses collected in the 12 months to May, and the 12 months to November each year. The figures on this page are based on the data collected in the 12 months to November.
Publication frequency
Twice a year
Purpose of data source
The Active Lives Survey measures the number of people aged 16 and over who take part in sport and physical activity.
This data informs the government’s strategy on physical activity, Sporting Future, which looks at 5 aspects of physical activity:
- physical well-being
- mental well-being
- individual development
- social and community development
- economic development
Secondary source
Public Health Outcomes Framework
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
Publication frequency
Quarterly
Purpose of data source
These outcomes reflect the focus on how long people live, their life expectancy, and also on how well they live, and their healthy life expectancy. The focus of the data is also on reducing these differences between people and communities from different backgrounds.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_Type, Time, Time_Type, Geography, Geography_Type, Geography_Code, Gender, Age, Value, Value_Type, Denominator, Confidence intervals