Overview
- Minsa reports seven in ten Peruvians have excess weight, with prevalence reaching about 70% among adults aged 30 to 59.
- Endes 2024 finds 62% of Peruvians over age 15 live with excess weight, underscoring the scale of the problem.
- UNICEF estimates that by 2030 more than one million Peruvians aged 5 to 19 will live with obesity, signaling rising long‑term risk.
- Mental health services recorded hundreds of thousands of anxiety and depression visits in 2024, and experts link this distress to emotional eating.
- Specialists discourage quick fixes and emphasize strength training, smarter meal sequencing, adequate sleep, stress management, and professional guidance, noting cost and time pressures that steer families to ultra‑processed foods.