More Than Half of Israelis are Overweight, Says OECD Report

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More than half of Israel’s citizens are overweight, according to the latest Health at a Glance report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The report published this month states that the populations of all of the countries in the OECD membership — which includes Israel — have all improved their live expectancy by 10 years, since 1970, now reaching an average of 80.6 years.

The average rate of overweight adults in the OECD is 54 percent — and in Israel, it’s not much lower: it’s 53 percent. Nineteen percent of adults in the OECD are obese, compared with 17 percent in Israel.

Smoking rates have fallen, although that is also still an issue: approximately one in five adults still smokes daily.