Which Country Eats the Most Unhealthy Food? Data-Backed Rankings by Obesity, Sugar, UPFs (2025)

Sep, 11 2025

You clicked hoping for a simple winner. There isn’t one-and that’s the honest answer. “Unhealthy” shifts depending on what you measure: obesity, sugar-sweetened drinks, ultra-processed foods, or salt. By one yardstick the US looks bad; by another, Central Asia does. I’m writing this from Sydney, where we eat plenty of packaged food but also have strong food standards, so I see the nuance up close.

• TL;DR: There’s no single “most unhealthy” country. It depends on the metric.
• Diet-related deaths per capita (Global Burden of Disease): Highest in parts of Central Asia, led by Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
• Adult obesity prevalence: Highest in Pacific Island nations (Nauru, Cook Islands, Palau); among large countries, the US, Mexico, and some Middle Eastern states are high.
• Ultra-processed foods share of calories: Very high in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Sugary drinks: Mexico, the US, and Chile sit near the top; Mexico remains a heavy consumer despite its soda tax.
• Sodium (salt): Highest averages in China and parts of Central Asia; well above the WHO 2 g/day sodium limit.

What does “unhealthy” actually mean, and how should we measure it?

When someone asks which country eats the most unhealthy food, they usually want a simple ranking. But nutrition risk isn’t one-dimensional. It helps to break “unhealthy” into three clear buckets that connect to disease risk.

1) Energy balance (body weight outcomes): The cleanest population proxy is adult obesity prevalence. It’s not perfect-some people carry weight differently-but at scale it tracks long-term energy surplus. Global comparators come from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the OECD. On this measure, small Pacific Island nations dominate the top. Among large, high-income countries, the US is notably high.

2) Nutrient risk factors: Specific nutrients tie directly to disease burden.

• Sodium: Strongly linked with hypertension and stroke. WHO recommends ≤2 g sodium/day (≈5 g salt). East and Central Asia average well above this.
• Free sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs): Tied to weight gain and dental caries; high intakes are common in the Americas and parts of the Middle East.
• Saturated fats and trans fats: Linked to cholesterol and heart disease. Industrial trans fats are falling due to bans in many countries, but not everywhere.

3) Food processing patterns: The NOVA system classifies foods by processing. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) include soft drinks, packaged snacks, reconstituted meat products, and many ready-to-eat cereals. Populations with higher UPF shares tend to have worse diet quality and higher energy intake. The UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand sit high on this metric.

There’s also a more direct way to rank “unhealthy”: look at diet-attributable disease burden. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates deaths and DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) attributable to dietary risks (too little whole grains, fruit, nuts; too much sodium, processed meat, etc.). In the last pre-pandemic GBD data release published in The Lancet, Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan were at the top for diet-related deaths per capita.

So how do we answer the headline question without cherry-picking? Use a transparent, multi-metric view and be clear about trade-offs.

Quick 5-step way to judge a country’s diet risk (and keep it fair):

1. Pick 5 indicators: adult obesity (%), UPF share of calories (%), SSB litres per capita per year, average sodium intake (g/day), diet-related DALYs per 100k.
2. Prefer primary sources: WHO/OECD (obesity), IHME/GBD (DALYs), Euromonitor/industry panels or government surveys (UPFs and SSBs), WHO/FAO/ national surveys (sodium).
3. Normalize each to a 0-100 risk score within the comparison group.
4. Weight them. A simple start: obesity 25%, UPF 20%, SSB 15%, sodium 20%, DALYs 20%.
5. Rank and sanity-check against known food environments and policies.

One more thing: people often confuse what we eat with what we die from. High-income countries may eat more UPFs but also have better healthcare, which can blunt mortality. Middle-income regions may have lower UPF shares yet worse outcomes due to salt, low produce intake, or limited care. Keep both exposure and outcome in view.

So, who tops the charts? It depends on the yardstick

Here’s a metric-by-metric look, with approximate figures and the most credible public sources. Different years and survey methods limit precision, but the patterns are consistent.

Diet-related deaths and DALYs (IHME/GBD): In the GBD 2019 diet risk analysis (published 2019; updates have similar ordering), Uzbekistan and neighbors like Turkmenistan showed the highest diet-attributable death rates per capita, driven by very high sodium, low fruit/whole grains, and limited access to care. Countries following were often in Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. At the other end, Israel, France, Spain, and Japan rated low on diet-attributable mortality, reflecting Mediterranean and Japanese diet patterns.

Adult obesity (WHO/OECD): The top slots are tiny Pacific Island nations: Nauru, Cook Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, and Samoa, with adult obesity well above 45-50%. Among large populations, the United States exceeds 40% adult obesity, Mexico sits around the mid-30s, Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states also run high, while the UK and Australia are roughly 28-33% depending on year. Japan remains one of the lowest among high-income countries.

Ultra-processed food share (NOVA, national surveys): Analyses of national dietary intake surveys show the UK and US with roughly half or more of calories from UPFs. Peer-reviewed work using NHANES in the US and NDNS in the UK consistently lands near the 50-60% range. Canada and Australia generally sit in the 40-50% band. Brazil popularized NOVA and shows a much lower UPF share (~20-30%), helped by home-cooked staples.

Sugary drinks (industry panels, FAO, PAHO): Mexico is often the standout for per-capita soda consumption. After Mexico’s 2014 soda tax, purchases dropped modestly but remain high by global standards. The US and Chile also rank high, with Middle Eastern markets rising. Southeast Asia’s intake is climbing, especially among youth.

Sodium (WHO STEPS, national surveys): China has among the highest average intakes, commonly in the 4-5 g/day sodium range (10-12 g salt), driven by salt, soy sauce, and salty condiments. Parts of Central Asia (e.g., Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) are similarly high. Japan historically had high salt intake from pickled and preserved foods but has reduced it over decades; it still sits above WHO targets.

The US comes off badly on UPFs and obesity. Mexico looks worst on sugary drinks. China looks worst on sodium. Uzbekistan looks worst on diet-driven mortality. The “worst” depends on what you care about most.

Notes: Values are rounded from WHO, OECD, national surveys (NHANES, NDNS), FAO food balance sheets, Euromonitor/industry panels, and IHME/GBD 2019 estimates. Methods vary; treat as directional. Obesity is adult prevalence. UPF shares come from dietary recall studies using NOVA. SSB volumes include sodas and may include other sweetened beverages depending on source.

So, if you force me to answer the headline with one line: the country that “eats the most unhealthy food” depends on your metric. By diet-driven harm, Central Asia ranks worst; by UPF dependence, the UK/US bloc; by sugar drinks, Mexico; by salt, China; by obesity, the Pacific Islands. That’s the honest, data-backed picture.

Why countries differ-and what you can actually do with this info

Big picture drivers explain these patterns. Once you see them, the rankings make sense and you can turn the data into action.

Food environment and price: People eat what’s accessible, cheap, and marketed. Subsidies for sugar and corn, weak front-of-pack labels, or heavy marketing to kids push populations toward high-calorie, nutrient-poor options. Countries with junk-food taxes, warning labels, and reformulation programs (like Chile’s black stop signs or Denmark’s trans-fat ban earlier) nudge markets the other way.

Culture and cooking: Home cooking and staple-based cuisines (think Brazil’s rice-beans-veg plate, or Japan’s rice-fish-soup pattern) keep UPF shares down. Urbanization, time poverty, and smaller households push the other way.

Healthcare and prevention: The US has heavy UPF intake and high obesity, but fewer diet-attributable deaths than some middle-income peers because acute care is strong. Meanwhile, Central Asia’s high salt and low produce intersect with less preventive care, spiking diet-related mortality.

Policy matters: Soda taxes in Mexico cut purchases by single digits-modest, but real. Chile’s warning labels drove striking reformulation and product changes. Mandatory salt reduction targets can trim population sodium like Japan did over decades. These are not silver bullets, but they shift the curve.

Heuristics you can use (for any country):

• If UPF >50% of calories, expect rising obesity without active policy counterweights.
• If sodium averages >4 g/day, cardiovascular risk will drive a big slice of mortality.
• SSB >100 L/person/year is a red flag for weight gain and dental disease, especially in youth.
• Diet-attributable DALYs trending up while UPFs rise? Your food environment is outpacing healthcare.

Quick checklist: is your country at risk?

• Front-of-pack labels: Do you have clear warning labels (Chile-style) or traffic lights? If not, shoppers are flying blind.
• SSB policy: Is there a meaningful soda tax (≥10%)? Are schools free of sugary drinks?
• Reformulation: Are there national salt/sugar targets for bread, cereal, sauces? Any trans-fat bans?
• Produce access: Are fruit/veg affordable relative to wages? Is there a subsidy or GST/VAT relief?
• Marketing to kids: Are ads for sugary snacks restricted during kids’ TV and online slots?

What to do as a person (not a ministry):

• Swap, don’t overhaul: Replace one habitual sugary drink per day with water or unsweetened tea.
• Salt stealth: Halve the salt in home cooking and add herbs/acids. You’ll adjust in two weeks.
• UPF cap: Set a personal ceiling of two packaged “treat” items a day, not five.
• Fast food rule: If you eat out twice on weekdays, cook on weekends. Pre-chop to make it easy.
• Breakfast anchor: Protein + fibre early (eggs + wholegrain toast + fruit) blunts later snacking.

Mini-FAQ

• So is the US the most unhealthy? Not across the board. The US is near the top for UPFs and adult obesity. But on diet-attributable deaths per capita, some Central Asian and Eastern European countries rank worse.
• Are all UPFs bad? No. UPF is a population-level signal. Plain yoghurt with fruit is minimally processed and great. A fortified wholegrain cereal can help some people. But most UPFs combine cheap starch/fat/sugar with low fibre, which drives overeating.
• Is obesity the best metric? It’s a useful flag but a lagging one. Salt and SSB intake can be high even in places with low obesity today. Outcomes (GBD diet deaths) give a sharper, if sobering, lens.
• What about India? Low obesity compared to the West, but rising SSBs in cities and high sodium from salt and snacks. Diabetes and heart disease are major concerns despite lower average BMI.
• How recent are these numbers? The patterns hold through the early 2020s. WHO/OECD obesity updates roll in regularly. GBD’s widely cited diet-risk analysis comes from the 2019 cycle; orders haven’t flipped dramatically since.
• Does a Mediterranean-style diet still help? Yes-countries like Spain, Italy, and Israel show better diet-related outcomes, though UPF creep is real even there.

Sources you can trust (no links, but easy to find): WHO Global Health Observatory (obesity, sodium), OECD Obesity Update, IHME Global Burden of Disease (diet risks), FAO Food Balance Sheets, Euromonitor Passport (SSB volumes), national dietary surveys (US NHANES, UK NDNS, Australia’s National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey), and peer-reviewed NOVA analyses.

Decision tree: if you care about one metric, here’s your answer

• You care about health harm → Look at GBD diet-related deaths. Worst: Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan tier.
• You care about weight → Look at adult obesity. Worst: Pacific Islands; large-country standouts: US, Mexico, some Gulf states.
• You care about food quality → Look at UPF share. Worst: UK/US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand.
• You care about sugar → Look at SSBs. Worst: Mexico, US, Chile.
• You care about salt → Look at population sodium. Worst: China and Central Asia.

One writer’s take from Sydney: We shop at supermarkets filled with UPFs, yet we’ve also got strong labeling and fresh produce year-round. When I travel, the biggest red flag isn’t one burger. It’s when every cheap, convenient choice is a sweet drink plus a salty, ultra-processed snack. Fix those defaults, and the country-level numbers follow.

Use this framing when you see the next viral chart claiming “Country X eats the worst.” Ask: which metric, what year, whose data? If the chart can’t answer, it’s not serious. If it can, now you know how to interpret it.

As for the SEO-friendly, one-line answer you came for: by unhealthy food by country, the “winner” depends on whether you score diet harm (Uzbekistan), obesity (Nauru), UPF dependence (UK/US), sugar (Mexico), or salt (China). Different roads, same destination: the food environment shapes us more than we admit.