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Underweight and severe and morbid obesity are associated with highly elevated risks of adverse health outcomes. We estimated trends in mean body-mass index (BMI), which characterises its population distribution, and in the prevalences of a complete set of BMI categories for adults in all countries.

We analysed, with use of a consistent protocol, population-based studies that had measured height and weight in adults aged 18 years and older. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to these data to estimate trends from 1975 to 2014 in mean BMI and in the prevalences of BMI categories (<18·5 kg/m² [underweight], 18·5 kg/m² to <20 kg/m², 20 kg/m² to <25 kg/m², 25 kg/m² to <30 kg/m², 30 kg/m² to <35 kg/m², 35 kg/m² to <40 kg/m², ≥40 kg/m² [morbid obesity]), by sex in 200 countries and territories, organised in 21 regions. We calculated the posterior probability of meeting the target of …