About 40 percent of adults in the United States are obese, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the first time in more than a decade that the country’s obesity rate has increased. obesity The rate did not increase in the federal government’s National Health Interview Survey results.
The numbers come from a new report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, which analyzes data collected from the agency’s decades-long nationwide National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
In 2000, the survey estimated that about 30% of adults were obesedefined as having a body mass index greater than or equal to 30. By 2020, the CDC’s estimate of the adult obesity rate had risen to 41.9%.
Today, the CDC estimates that 40.3% of adults are obese, looking at survey data from 2021 to 2023.
Although the difference between 2020 and 2023 is too small to be considered a statistically significant decline, this modest drop ends a streak of rates that had increased virtually every year since 2011.
“In the United States, the prevalence of adult obesity remains above the Healthy People 2030 target of 36.0 percent,” the agency said in the report, citing the federal government’s official goal of reducing the share of Americans who are overweight or obese.
Obesity rates remain highest among adults aged 40 to 59, at 46.4%. The lowest rates are among those aged 20 to 39, at 35.5%.
Severe obesity Rates continue to rise, according to the CDC survey. Adjusted for age, the prevalence of adults with a BMI of 40 or greater increased from 7.7% to 9.4%.
At these higher levels of obesity, the National Institutes of Health warns, people are at greatest risk for diseases that are linked to weight gain, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Map shows states with highest and lowest obesity rates
The new numbers come just a week after the CDC released its map of obesity rates across the country, based on results from another ongoing survey conducted by the agency, which found that more than a third of adults in 23 states were obese by 2023. That’s up from no state with more than a third of its residents obese a decade ago, in 2013.
Only the District of Columbia and Colorado had less than a quarter of their residents obese in 2023. That’s down from the seven states and the District of Columbia that had rates below 25% in 2013.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
“These new data underscore the need for obesity prevention and treatment measures that begin with building healthier communities where people of all ages have safe places to be physically active and where health care and healthy food options are accessible and affordable for all,” Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement after the map was released.
The release of the new CDC figures also comes ahead of a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing with Novo Nordisk’s chief executive, who is questioning the drugmaker about the high prices it charges for its blockbuster product. semaglutide-based drugsmarked as Ozempic for diabetes and Pants to lose weight.
Strong demand for Novo Nordisk products drugsas well as similar tirzepatide-based drugs made by rival Eli Lilly under the brand name Zepbound for weight loss and Mounjaro for diabetes, put them on the Food and Drug Administration’s shortage list for years.
“Epidemiologists have estimated that more than 40,000 lives a year could be saved if Wegovy and others weight loss medications “Drugs have been made affordable and widely available in the United States,” the panel, led by Democrat and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, said in a statement ahead of the hearing.
