Obesity in Peru: how common it is, why it is rising and what helps

How common is obesity in Peru?

Almost three in ten Peruvian adults live with obesity: 29.2% in the latest WHO estimates, which is about 7.6 million people. Peru ranks 66th of 196 countries, well above the world average of 16.2%.

Women carry a larger share. Among women the rate is 33.3%, among men 24.9%. For young people the order is reversed: 18.7% of boys aged 5 to 19 live with obesity, against 14.7% of girls.

The overall rate for children and teens, 16.8%, is one of the clearest warning signs. It is twice the world average of 8.2% for this age group.

What Peru’s national survey shows

Peru measures weight and height every year in its Demographic and Family Health Survey, known as ENDES, run by the national statistics institute INEI. In the latest round, 36.5% of people aged 15 and over had overweight and 25.7% had obesity, so more than 62% carried excess weight.

ENDES starts at age 15 and is not age-standardised, while the WHO estimate covers adults from 18 and adjusts for age. That is why the two obesity figures, 25.7% and 29.2%, are close but not the same.

A study of ten years of ENDES data, published as a preprint, found that obesity among adults rose from 20.4% to 29.1% over the decade. Women had higher rates than men in every year, and urban residents more than rural ones.

Where in Peru is obesity highest?

Obesity is not spread evenly across the country. According to INEI figures reported in the official gazette El Peruano, the departments with the highest share of people with obesity were Ica (38.2%), Moquegua (36.1%), Tacna (34.7%) and Madre de Dios (33%).

Three of these four lie on the southern coast. Across the country, national survey data show that obesity is more common in urban areas than in rural ones.

How obesity in Peru has changed since 1990

In 1990, 8.7% of Peruvian adults lived with obesity. Today it is 29.2%, more than three times as many, and each WHO data point since then has been higher than the last.

The change among men has been especially large in relative terms: from 5.2% to 24.9%, almost five times higher. Among women it rose from 12.0% to 33.3%.

Children and teens have seen the steepest climb of all. Obesity among Peruvians aged 5 to 19 went from 2.3% in 1990 to 16.8% today, about seven times higher.

Severe obesity is rising fastest

The most worrying trend is at the top end. An analysis in Obesity Pillars of more than 250,000 ENDES participants found that class III obesity, a BMI of 40 or more, grew by about 8.9% a year in relative terms, the fastest of any weight group, while the share of adults with a healthy weight fell steadily.

People born in recent decades had much higher rates of severe obesity than people born a generation earlier, at the same age. Severe obesity used to be concentrated in wealthier households but has spread into poorer and middle-income groups.

At the same time, around one in five older Peruvians was underweight. Peru therefore faces a double burden: too much weight in younger adults and too little in many older people.

Why is obesity rising in Peru?

Obesity in Peru is rising as packaged and ultra-processed foods replace home-cooked meals, especially in cities and on the coast, and as more people move from physical work to sedentary jobs. Wealth, urban life and the food environment around schools all play a part. The general mechanisms are covered on our page about the causes of obesity.

More packaged and ultra-processed food

Peru has a rich tradition of fresh, home-cooked food. Packaged and ultra-processed products now compete with it on every shop shelf, and many of them are high in sugar, salt or saturated fat.

A study in BMJ Global Health found that 61% of packaged foods and 31% of drinks on the Peruvian market exceeded the official limits for sugars, sodium or saturated fat before the labelling law took effect. Read more about how the food environment shapes what people eat.

Wealth, cities and a shifting gradient

In Peru, obesity is still more common among wealthier and urban households, unlike in many richer countries where the poorest are most affected. The ENDES study found a clear gradient, with the richest groups having the highest rates.

That gradient is slowly changing. Obesity is rising in every income group, and severe obesity has spread to poorer households. This is the pattern researchers expect as a country grows richer: over time, obesity tends to move from better-off groups towards poorer ones.

Schools surrounded by snacks

Children spend much of their day at school, and the food on offer there matters. A study of 45 schools in Metropolitan Lima found processed or ultra-processed products in 96.5% of school kiosks and cafeterias, and at least one product carrying a warning octagon in 89.5%.

Street vendors waited at the gates of 41 of the 45 schools. Advertising for processed foods appeared in more than half of school kiosks, even though Peruvian rules prohibit selling foods with octagons in schools. That helps explain the steep rise among young people; our page on obesity in children offers practical, blame-free advice for parents.

Health impact of obesity in Peru

Excess weight in Peru raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, fatty liver and several cancers, according to the Ministry of Health. The head of endocrinology at Lima’s Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo also lists high cholesterol, liver disease and sleep apnoea among the problems it can cause.

A meta-analysis in Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome estimated that 7.5% of Peruvian adults have diabetes and 10.7% have prediabetes. Many people with prediabetes can still prevent diabetes through weight loss, better food and more movement.

Severe obesity, which is rising fastest, carries the highest risks. Learn more about the health risks of obesity.

How is Peru tackling obesity?

Peru has a wide set of food policies: mandatory warning labels, a tax tied to the sugar content of drinks, school food rules and national dietary guidelines. The challenge now is enforcement.

Black octagon warning labels

Under Peru’s healthy eating law, packaged foods and drinks that exceed limits for sugars, sodium or saturated fat, or that contain trans fats, must carry black octagons on the front of the pack saying “alto en” (high in).

The labels seem to have changed what companies sell. After the first phase, the share of foods that were high in at least one nutrient fell from 61% to 55%, and among drinks from 31% to 19%. Drinks high in sugar fell by 37%, a strong sign that manufacturers reformulated their products.

Shoppers use them too. In focus groups with mothers of young children in four cities, most remembered the warnings, understood them and said they bought some processed foods less often, choosing homemade dishes or products without octagons instead.

A tax linked to sugar content

Peru applies its selective consumption tax (ISC) to sugary drinks in tiers. Drinks with 5 grams of sugar or more per 100 ml pay a 25% rate, and those with 0.5 to 5 grams pay 17%.

The 5-gram threshold matches the Ministry of Health’s definition of a drink that is high in sugar, so the tax and the warning labels point consumers in the same direction.

Dietary guidelines for the Peruvian population

The National Institute of Health (INS) publishes the Guías Alimentarias para la Población Peruana, twelve simple messages for healthy eating. The first asks people to choose and enjoy the variety of natural foods available where they live every day.

Other messages advise using less salt to prevent high blood pressure, drinking six to eight glasses of water a day, taking active breaks during work and preferring home-cooked meals shared with others.

Where to get help for obesity in Peru

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) recommends that everyone aged 15 and over has a preventive check-up at least once a year, even without symptoms. At a public health centre, staff can measure your weight, height and BMI and look at related risk factors.

During awareness weeks, public health centres across the country offer free nutrition assessments, weight checks and advice on food. If you need more help, your doctor can refer you to a hospital endocrinology service; Minsa hospitals such as the Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo in Lima have one.

Write down your questions before the visit; our doctor visit checklist helps. We did not find a national patient organisation for obesity in Peru, so our free online support can help fill the gap.

Peru against the world and its South American neighbours

Peru’s adult obesity rate of 29.2% is nearly double the world average of 16.2%. In South America it sits close to Bolivia (29.7%), Ecuador (28.9%) and Brazil (30.1%), above Colombia (24.9%) and well below Chile (40.5%) and Argentina (37.2%).

In 1990, Peru was only slightly above the world, at 8.7% against 6.7%. Since then its rate has grown more than twice as fast as the world’s, in percentage points.

The 16.8% rate for children and teens puts Peru among the higher countries in the region for young people as well. See how every country compares on our obesity by country page, or read the basics on what is obesity.

Free help from Obesity Foundation to lose weight in Peru

Obesity Foundation helps people in Peru lose weight and feel healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking. All of it is free, online and free of blame, and it fits well with the advice in Peru’s own dietary guidelines.

Before you start, talk to your doctor or visit your health centre, especially if you have diabetes, high blood pressure or a lot of weight to lose. Then pick one step:

• Cook more at home: our free eating plan builds meals from fresh, local foods and helps you choose products without octagons.
• Swap the soft drink: water, or water with fruit, instead of sugary drinks is one of the simplest changes you can make.
• Walk a little more each week: our walking plan starts slowly and works in the city or in the countryside.
• Move without strain: low impact cardio is kind to your joints.
• Track your progress: our free calculators help you set a healthy goal.
• Find support: book a free video meeting (in English) or join the Obesity Foundation Club.