New Zealand has been ranked as among the fattest nations in the world, but our Pacific neighbours are faring far worse on the scales.
Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table of 177 nations, followed by the US where the average adult weight is 82.1kg, accordingto the ranking by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
New Zealand was ranked 29th, with an average adult weighing 71.78kg. Australia was ranked the sixth fattest, with an average of 77.52kg. New Zealand and Australia are well over the world adult average of 62kg.
Using data from the United Nations and World Health Organisation, researchers estimated that the adult human population of the world weighs 287 million tonnes - 15 million of which is due to the overweight and 3.5 million due to obesity. And while the US makes up only 5 per cent of the world's population, it accounts for almost a third of the world's weight due to obesity.
In comparison, Asia has 61 per cent of the world's people but only 13 per cent of the world's weight.
The study was published in the journal BMC Public Health and launched at the UN conference Rio+20. Researchers said the survey shows that obesity and population levels put a strain on the environment.
