New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that for the first time in more than a decade, about 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese. obesity Results from the federal government’s National Health Survey show that the rate has not increased even slightly.
The figures come from a new report by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, which analyzed data collected through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which the agency has conducted across the country for decades.
In a 2000 survey, about 30% of adults obesitythe definition is Body Mass Index Age 30 and older. By 2020, the CDC estimates that the adult obesity rate had risen to 41.9%.
Currently, the CDC, looking at survey data from 2021 to 2023, estimates that 40.3% of adults are obese.
While the difference from 2020 to 2023 was too small to count as a statistically significant decrease, the gradual decline broke a streak of rates that had increased almost every year since 2011.
“In the United States, adult obesity rates remain above the Healthy People 2030 goal of 36.0 percent,” the agency said in its report, citing the federal government’s official goal of reducing the percentage of Americans who are overweight or obese.
Obesity rates are highest among adults ages 40-59 at 46.4%, while the lowest rate is among those ages 20-39 at 35.5%.
Severe obesity The CDC study also found that rates continue to increase: After adjusting for age, the prevalence among adults with a BMI of 40 or higher increased from 7.7% to 9.4%.
The National Institutes of Health warns that at these higher levels of obesity, people are at greatest risk. disease Diseases associated with weight gain, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Map shows states with the highest and lowest obesity rates
The new figures come just one week after the CDC released a national map of obesity rates by state, based on the results of another ongoing CDC study, which showed that 23 states are projected to have more than one-third of adults who are obese by 2023. That number is up from 2013, a decade ago, when no state had more than one-third of its residents obese.
The District of Columbia and Colorado are the only states where fewer than a quarter of residents will be obese in 2023. That’s down from seven states and Washington, D.C., where obesity rates were below 25% in 2013.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
“This new data highlights the need for obesity prevention and treatment options, which starts with building healthier communities where people of all ages have safe places to exercise and where health care and healthy food options are accessible and affordable for everyone,” Dr. Karen Hacker, director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement after the map was released.
The release of the CDC’s new figures comes ahead of a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing of Novo Nordisk’s chief executive officer, in which the drugmaker is being questioned about charging high prices for blockbuster products. Semaglutide drugbrand name Ozempic Diabetes and Wegovi For weight loss.
Novo Nordisk Drugsas well as a similar drug called tirzepatide, made by rival Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound Medicines such as Maunjaro for weight loss and Maunjaro for diabetes have been on the Food and Drug Administration’s shortage list for years.
“Epidemiologists estimate that if Wegovi and other researchers work together, more than 40,000 lives could be saved each year. Weight loss drugs “Vaccines are now affordable and widely available in the United States,” the committee, led by Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said in a statement ahead of the hearing.