Over One-Third of Sri Lankan Adults Overweight or Obese

By Huzefa Aliasger  

Sri Lanka continues to face a growing public health challenge as more than one-third of the country’s adult population is now classified as overweight or obese, according to a national nutrition and diet study conducted by International Food Policy Research Institute and Department of Applied Nutrition, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.  

The report which was released in 2024 says that among adults, overweight and obesity are significantly more common in women, with prevalence rates roughly 10 percentage points higher than in men.  

While obesity is less common among younger children, approximately 12 percent of adolescents in Sri Lanka are overweight or obese, signalling a growing risk of long-term health problems. 

Health experts warn that obesity is closely linked to the country’s increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases. NCDs account for 84 percent of all deaths in Sri Lanka, with diabetes-related death and disability rising by 34.8 percent between 2009 and 2019.  

The report highlights that “overweight and obesity are part of a broader “double burden of malnutrition” affecting the country, where undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies coexist alongside rising rates of diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).”