Abstract

Objectives: In recent decades, the immigrant population has been growing steadily. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the immigrant population worldwide. Method: The meta-analysis was developed within the PRISMA. Keywords set up for use in searching in PubMed and Embase in English-language studies that were available before February 2020. The prevalence of BMI ≥25, obesity and overweight were noted in the separate analysis. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was also shown for men and women, immigration and refugees, measured and self-reported BMI and based on continents. The heterogeneity domain was calculated according to ᵡ2 and I (Migration IeOf, 2010). Result: The prevalence of obesity was 24 and 95 Confidence Interval (CI) between 22 and 27 and the prevalence of overweight was 37 and 95 CI 31–44. The prevalence of obesity and overweight in men was 20 and 44 respectively. The prevalence of obesity in women was 27 and the prevalence of overweight was 34. The heterogeneity in the fifty-nine studies indicated that there was a high heterogeneity (I (Migration IeOf, 2010) 99.9). Discussion: One in four immigrants was found to be obese and overweight. Obesity and overweight can affect other health aspects and cause many diseases. Therefore, increasing attention to the issue of obesity and overweight and monitoring it is a need for community health. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd