Table 3 Population, body mass and biomass by world region in 2005 and in hypothetical scenarios
From: The weight of nations: an estimation of adult human biomass
WHO region | Adult population (millions) | Average body mass (kg) | Biomass (million kg) | No of people overweight / total population | Biomass due to BMI > 25 (million kg) | Biomass due to BMI > 30 (million kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia | 2815 | 57.7 | 162408 | 24.2% | 4265 | 449 |
Europe | 606 | 70.8 | 42895 | 55.6% | 3836 | 910 |
Africa | 535 | 60.7 | 32484 | 28.9% | 1464 | 340 |
Latin Am. Caribbean | 386 | 67.9 | 26231 | 57.9% | 2431 | 585 |
Northern Am. | 263 | 80.7 | 21185 | 73.9% | 3297 | 1187 |
Oceania | 24 | 74.1 | 1815 | 63.3% | 191 | 46 |
World | 4630 | 62.0 | 287017 | 34.7% | 15484 | 3518 |
Scenario (1): all countries have BMI distribution of Japan | 4630 | 58.8 | 272408 (−5%) | 22.3% | 5630 (−64%) | 253 (−93%) |
Scenario (2): all countries have BMI distribution of USA | 4630 | 74.6 | 345426 (+20%) | 74.0% | 53090 (+243%) | 18789 (+434%) |