Comi AI Research
Colombian Food Calorie Statistics (2026)
A sourced snapshot of what Colombians and Latin Americans actually eat, how it adds up, and what it means for health. Every number below links to its original source.
Want to check a single plate? Use the free Colombian food calorie lookup to pick a dish, set your portion, and compare any two.
By the Numbers
The data at a glance
A visual read on how Colombian dishes stack up by calories, and on the weight trends shaping the region.
One restaurant bandeja paisa carries more calories than nine other classic plates combined per serving.
Primary source: Fitia LATAM Nutrition Database (per-dish figures and full source links in the sections below)
Share of adults living with overweight or obesity.
Source: PAHO/WHO, ENLACE obesity data portal and Colombia ENSIN 2015 (full links in the sections below)
Dish Calories
Colombian dishes by the numbers
Calorie counts for classic Colombian plates, from a full bandeja paisa to a single arepa.
A single restaurant portion of Bandeja Paisa contains 1,418 kcal, more than 70% of the average adult's recommended daily intake.
A medium plain arepa (100 g, cooked) contains approximately 133 kcal with 23 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, and 3 g fat.
Harina PAN arepa (30 g dry serving used to make one small arepa) provides 110 kcal before any fillings or toppings.
A Colombian chicken empanada (130 g) contains 168 kcal, with 8 g fat, 16 g carbohydrates, and 8 g protein.
A Colombian tamal (150 g serving) provides approximately 178 kcal, with 22 g carbohydrates and 6 g protein.
Ajiaco Colombiano (traditional Bogota chicken-and-potato soup) provides 455 kcal per standard portion.
Lechona Tolimense (stuffed roasted pork) delivers 446 kcal per 200 g serving.
Chicharron Colombiano (fried pork belly, 45 g portion) contains 244 kcal with 15 g fat and 20 g protein.
A single patacon (double-fried green plantain, 40 g) provides 94 kcal with 5 g fat and 14 g carbohydrates.
Pandebono (Colombian cheese bread) contains 353 kcal per 100 g.
One cup of Colombian sancocho contains 309 kcal with 44 g carbohydrates, 22 g protein, and 7 g fat.
Weight & Nutrition
Weight trends in Colombia and Latin America
How overweight, obesity, and undernutrition have moved across the region over the last two decades.
56.4% of Colombian adults had excess weight in 2015 (37.7% overweight and 18.7% obese), according to Colombia's National Nutrition Survey (ENSIN 2015).
Colombia's adult excess-weight prevalence rose 10.6 percentage points in one decade, from 45.9% in 2005 to 56.5% in 2015, per successive ENSIN surveys.
Overweight and obesity combined affected 59.7% of Colombian adults aged 15 and older in 2022 (PAHO data).
The Americas has the highest overweight-and-obesity rate of any WHO region: 67.5% of adults in 2022, versus a global average well below 50%.
The Americas recorded the world's highest obesity-alone rate, 33.8% of adults in 2022 (36.5% in women, 31.0% in men).
29.9% of Latin American adults were living with obesity in 2022, that is 141.4 million people, nearly double the global estimate, with prevalence up 7.5 percentage points in just 10 years.
Without effective intervention, adult overweight and obesity in the Americas is projected to reach 73.2% by 2030 (73.8% women, 71.1% men).
12.7% of Colombian children under age 5 suffer from stunting (chronic undernutrition), higher than the 11.3% regional Latin America average.
Over 33 million people still face hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean as of 2024, despite four consecutive years of declining undernourishment.
Diet & Health
Diet-related health in Colombia
Diabetes, sugary drinks, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and the economic cost of obesity.
Type 2 diabetes prevalence in Bogota reached 11.0% (95% CI: 9.0 to 13.5%) in a 2022 to 2023 cross-sectional population survey.
3.44 million Colombian adults were living with diabetes in 2021, a national prevalence of 9.9%, per the IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th Edition.
48.3% of Colombian adults aged 18 to 64 did not meet physical activity recommendations in the 2015 ENSIN survey, and 56.9% spent 2 or more hours daily watching screens.
84% of Colombian adults consumed sugar-sweetened (taxed) beverages in 2015, averaging 209 kcal/day from those drinks alone.
Sugary beverages contributed an average of 287 kcal/day for Colombian women and 334 kcal/day for Colombian men, approximately 8.9% of total daily caloric intake.
Only 7.2% of adults across 8 Latin American countries met the WHO recommendation of 400 g/day of fruits and vegetables, per the ELANS study (8 countries, 9,218 participants).
The annual economic burden of diseases caused by overweight and obesity in Colombia is estimated at $2.5 billion USD per year.
Calorie Tracking
The nutrition-app market
How many people track their food, how fast the category is growing, and where AI nutrition fits in Latin America.
MyFitnessPal has 280 million registered users across 120+ countries and a food database of 18 million+ items, including Latin American dishes.
87% of respondents in a MyFitnessPal survey agreed that food logging helps them keep tabs on their intake; 79% said they were shocked by portion sizes before they started tracking.
The global diet and nutrition apps market was valued at $11.35 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $41.57 billion by 2032.
Latin America's calorie counter apps market reached $87.58 million in 2024 and is projected to grow at 12.9% CAGR through 2031.
Global diet and nutrition app users reached 1.4 billion in 2022, up 40% from 1 billion in 2020.
The global AI-powered personalized nutrition market was valued at $4.15 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach $21.54 billion by 2034 at a 17.9% CAGR.
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