According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of adults in the country are obese. This is the first time in more than ten years that the national health survey’s results show the obesity rate in the country has not increased.
The numbers come from a new report by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. It explores data from its long-running National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
According to the poll, over 30% of individuals in 2000 met the criteria for obesity, which is defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more. According to CDC estimates, the adult obesity rate increased to 41.9% by 2020.
According to CDC forecasts based on survey data from 2021 to 2023, 40.3% of people are obese.
The tiny fall from 2020 to 2023 breaks a trend of rates rising almost yearly since 2011, even if the difference was too small to be considered a statistically meaningful decrease.
Mention the official federal government aim of reducing the proportion of overweight and obese Americans; the agency stated in the study that “In the United States, the prevalence of obesity in adults remains above the Healthy People 2030 goal of 36.0%.”
Adults between the ages of 40 and 59 continue to have the greatest obesity rates—46.4%. The age group of 20 to 39 years old has the lowest rates at 35.5%.
The CDC survey also revealed an increase in the incidence of severe obesity. When age was considered, the percentage of people with a BMI of at least 40 rose from 7.7% to 9.4%.
The National Institutes of Health warns that people become more vulnerable to conditions like diabetes and heart disease as obesity levels rise. Weight gain is linked to these conditions.
The map shows the maximum and minimum states of obesity rates in America
The new numbers were released only one week after the CDC published its state-by-state map of obesity rates across the US. The map was based on data from an additional ongoing poll that the agency conducted, which revealed that in 23 states, more than a third of adults were obese in 2023. This shows an increase from 2013 when no state had more than one-third of its citizens classified as obese.
Resource: In all U.S. states and territories, almost one in five persons suffered from obesity in 2023. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is the source of information.
In 2023, fewer than 25% of people who lived in Colorado and the District of Columbia were obese. In 2013, rates were below 25% in seven states and the District of Columbia.
Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement following the release of the map, “These new data highlight the need for obesity. Prevention and treatment options, which start with building healthier communities where people of all ages have safe places for physical activity and where health care and healthy food options are accessible and affordable for everyone.”
The new CDC data are being released before a Senate hearing on health, education, labor, and pensions. Novo Nordisk’s CEO will ask about the high price of its popular semaglutide drugs, Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes.
The FDA has listed Novo Nordisk’s drugs as in short supply for years. Demand for the company’s drugs and similar ones from Eli Lilly has risen. Eli Lilly’s drugs are Zepbound for weight loss and Mounjaro for diabetes.
In a release issued before the hearing, the panel, which is composed of Democrats and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, stated that epidemiologists had calculated that more than 40,000 lives could be saved annually if Wegovy and other weight-loss medications were made widely accessible and inexpensive in the United States.
This news was originally published on CBCNews.
