Maria L.C. IurilliBin ZhouJames E. BennettRodrigo M. Carrillo-LarcoMarisa K. SophieaAndrea Rodriguez-MartinezHonor BixbyBethlehem D. SolomonCristina TaddeiGoodarz DanaeiMariachiara Di CesareGretchen A. StevensLeanne M. RileyStefan SavinMelanie J. CowanPascal BovetAlbertino DamascenoAdela Chirita-EmandiAlison J. HayesNayu IkedaRod T. JacksonYoung Ho KhangAvula LaxmaiahJing LiuJ. Jaime MirandaOlfa SaidiSylvain SebertMaroje SorićGregor StarcEdward W. GreggLeandra Abarca-GómezZiad A. AbdeenShynar AbdrakhmanovaSuhaila Abdul GhaffarHanan F.Abdul RahimNiveen M. Abu-RmeilehJamila Abubakar GarbaBenjamin Acosta-CazaresRobert J. AdamsWichai AekplakornKaosar AfsanaShoaib AfzalImelda A. AgdeppaJavad Aghazadeh-AttariCarlos A. Aguilar-SalinasCharles AgyemangMohamad Hasnan AhmadNoor Ani AhmadAli AhmadiNaser AhmadiSoheir H. AhmedWolfgang AhrensGulmira AitmurzaevaKamel AjlouniHazzaa M. Al-HazzaaBadreya Al-LahouRajaa Al-RaddadiMonira AlaroujFadia AlBuhairanShahla AlDhukairMohamed M. AliAbdullah AlkandariAláa AlkerwiKristine AllinMar Alvarez-PedrerolEman AlyDeepak N. AmarapurkarParisa AmiriNorbert AmougouPhilippe AmouyelLars Bo AndersenSigmund A. AnderssenLars ÄngquistRanjit Mohan AnjanaAlireza Ansari-MoghaddamHajer Aounallah-SkhiriJoana AraújoInger AriansenTahir ArisRaphael E. ArkuNimmathota ArlappaKrishna K. AryalThor AspelundFelix K. AssahMaria Cecília F. AssunçãoMay Soe AungJuha AuvinenMária AvdicováShina AviAna AzevedoMohsen Azimi-NezhadFereidoun AziziMehrdad AzminBontha V. BabuMaja Bæksgaard JørgensenAzli BaharudinSuhad BahijriJennifer L. BakerNagalla BalakrishnaMohamed BamoshmooshDasman Diabetes InstituteNon-Communicable Diseases Research CenterUniversity of Science and Technology, YemenWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesResearch Center for Social Determinants of Health, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical SciencesInstituto de Salud Global de BarcelonaNeyshabur University of Medical SciencesPrincess Nourah bint Abdulrahman UniversityUniversité de LilleCaja Costarricense de Seguro SocialKing Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health SciencesBeijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityMinistry of Health SeychellesQatar UniversityBirzeit UniversityUniversidade Eduardo MondlaneLuxembourg Institute of HealthFood and Nutrition Research Institute ManilaUniversidad Peruana Cayetano HerediaHaskoli IslandsUniversité de Yaoundé IUniversité de Tunis El ManarKuwait Institute for Scientific ResearchNational Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics JordanHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthUsmanu Danfodiyo UniversityAl-Quds UniversityUniverza v LjubljaniKøbenhavns UniversitetZahedan University of Medical SciencesMuseum National d'Histoire NaturelleOrganisation Mondiale de la SantéThe University of SydneyIndian Council of Medical ResearchShahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Research Institute for Endocrine ScienceShahrekord University of Medical SciencesUrmia University of Medical SciencesFlinders UniversityStatens Institut for FolkesundhedCHU LilleNational Institute of Nutrition IndiaFaculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto (FMUP)Oulu University HospitalUniversitatea de Medicina si Farmacie Victor Babes din TimisoaraCopenhagen University HospitalImperial College LondonUniversidade Federal de PelotasUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstMiddlesex UniversitySeoul National UniversityUniversity of OuluKementerian Kesihatan MalaysiaMahidol UniversityNorwegian Institute of Public HealthBombay Hospital and Medical Research CentreUniversitetet i OsloInstituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador ZubiranBRAC UniversityInstituto Mexicano del Seguro SocialUniversity of ZagrebUniversität BremenHebrew University of JerusalemUniversidade do PortoFrederiksberg HospitalNational Institute of Biomedical InnovationThe University of AucklandTel Aviv UniversityKing Abdulaziz UniversityNorges idrettshøgskoleUniversiteit van AmsterdamUniversité de Lausanne (UNIL)Madras Diabetes Research FoundationNational Center of Public HealthcareAbt AssociatesUniversity of Medicine 1Aldara Hospital and Medical CenterRepublican Center for Health Promotion and Mass CommunicationRegional Authority of Public Health in Banska BystricaNational Institute of Public Health2022-08-042022-08-042021-03-01eLife. Vol.10, (2021)2050084X2-s2.0-85103837539https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/76257From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.Mahidol UniversityBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyImmunology and MicrobiologyNeuroscienceArticleSCOPUS10.7554/eLife.60060