Microcensus Germans are getting fatter

More than half of Germans are overweight

06/11/2014

More and more adult Germans are overweight, and just under 16% of the population are even overweight with a body mass index of more than 30. The Federal Statistical Office came to this conclusion in the framework of the 2013 microcensus supplementary survey, which also included questions on body height and weight. Thus, in 2013, a total of 52% of the adult population was too fat, with the proportion of overweight increased by 4 percent compared to 1999.

62% of men weigh too many kilos
Obesity affects more and more people in Germany, more than half of the adult population now weighs too many kilos. This is evident from the results of the supplementary survey on the 2013 Microcensus, which is conducted annually by the Statistical State Offices and the Federal Statistical Office. 52% of the adult population was overweight in 2013, with men being significantly more affected than women at 62% (43%)..

Body mass index as calculation basis
This means that in comparison to 1999, a total of four percent more Germans are overweight, whereby here, too, men recorded a stronger increase of 6% than women with 3%, according to the Federal Statistical Office's statement in Wiesbaden. To categorize the weight of the Germans, the statisticians had for the evaluation of the additional survey „Body measurements of the population in 2013“ the so-called „Body mass index“ for which the body weight (in Kg) is divided by the square of the height (in meters).

WHO classifies BMI over 30 as severely overweight
Based on this formula, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies adults with a body mass index of over 25 as overweight and over 30 as severely overweight, disregarding their sex and age. Accordingly, for example, a man with a height of 1.80 m and a weight from 81 kg overweight or from 97 kg strong overweight.

15% describe themselves as impaired in health
In addition to the body measurements were also asked questions about the health status of the Germans in the context of the microcensus additional survey, according to the Federal Office. The result: A total of 15% of the population described themselves in 2013 as a health impaired, with these significantly more often had a strong overweight than healthy: „Of the sick men, 23% had a body mass index of more than 30, the proportion of healthy men was 16%“, the office continues.

Only just under a quarter of the population smokes actively
On the other hand, smoking showed a reverse trend. Here „In 2013, 76% of the population over the age of 15 were non-smokers“, The Office said that 56% have never smoked in this group and 19% have been former smokers. When „active smoker“ As a result, only just under a quarter of the population (1999: 52%) said that the proportion of smokers who regularly smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day fell by one third to 12% of all cigarette smokers compared to 1999. Again, men (29% smokers) were more affected than women (20%), but the proportion of smokers in the comparative period for men was six, but for women only two percentage points lower. (No)