In 2023, Black adults had the highest obesity rates of any race or ethnicity in the United States, followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives and Hispanics. As of that time, around ** percent of all Black adults were obese. Asians/Pacific Islanders had by far the lowest obesity rates. Obesity in the United States Obesity is a present and growing problem in the United States. An astonishing ** percent of the adult population in the U.S. is now considered obese. Obesity rates can vary substantially by state, with around ** percent of the adult population in West Virginia reportedly obese, compared to ** percent of adults in Colorado. The states with the highest rates of obesity include West Virginia, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Diabetes Being overweight and obese can lead to a number of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Being overweight or obese is one of the most common causes of type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not use insulin properly, causing blood sugar levels to rise. It is estimated that just over ***** percent of adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for ***** percent of all deaths.

About a fifth of Hispanic high school students in the United States were overweight between 2016 and 2017, making it the ethnic group with the highest percentage of overweight high school students. Female obesity rates were considerably higher than those of male students for the black and Hispanic groups during the measured period.

Overweight and obese U.S. adults

U.S. overweight rates in adults differed slightly from those of U.S. high school students in 2017. That year, the African American population had the highest overweight and obesity rates of any race or ethnicity, closely followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives and Hispanics. Over 73 percent of all African American adults in the country were either overweight or obese. In 2018, the highest rates of obesity among African Americans could be found in states, such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Overweight youth worldwide

Many children and adolescents in other countries, such as New Zealand, Greece, and Italy, also struggle with overweight and obesity. In New Zealand, for example, over forty percent of boys and girls, up to age 19, were overweight or obese in 2016. In the same year, less than ten percent of Indian children and teenagers were overweight.

From 2017 to March 2020, the prevalence of severe obesity in the U.S. was highest among non-Hispanic blacks. This statistic shows the age-adjusted prevalence of severe obesity among U.S. adults aged 20 and over from 2017 to March 2020, by race/ethnicity.

In 2023, around 43 percent of all Black adults in Virginia were obese. Children are often the principal target for fast food advertisements, which can influence their food choices and diet. Childhood obesity is an ever-increasing problem worldwide. This statistic depicts the obesity rates for adults in Virginia in 2023, by race/ethnicity.

NA: Not applicable, for cells where the zero percent of the population fell into that category.(1) Prevalences and standard errors are calculated using the survey weights from the 5-year visit provided with the dataset. These adjust for unequal probability of selection and response. Survey and subclass estimation commands were used to account for complex sample design.(2) Overweight/obesity is defined as body mass index (BMI) z-score >2 standard deviations (SD) above age- and sex- specific WHO Childhood Growth Standard reference mean at all time points except birth, where we define overweight/obesity as weight-for-age z-score >2 SD above age- and sex- specific WHO Childhood Growth Standard reference mean.(3) To represent socioeconomic status, we used a composite index to capture multiple of the social dimensions of socioeconomic status. This composite index was provided in the ECLS-B data that incorporates information about maternal and paternal education, occupations, and household income to create a variable representing family socioeconomic status on several domains. The variable was created using principal components analysis to create a score for family socioeconomic status, which was then normalized by taking the difference between each score and the mean score and dividing by the standard deviation. If data needed for the composite socioeconomic status score were missing, they were imputed by the ECLS-B analysts [9].(4) We created a 5-category race/ethnicity variable (American Indian/Alaska Native, African American, Hispanic, Asian, white) from the mothers' report of child's race/ethnicity, which originally came 25 race/ethnic categories. To have adequate sample size in race/ethnic categories, we assigned a single race/ethnic category for children reporting more than one race, using an ordered, stepwise approach similar to previously published work using ECLS-B (3). First, any child reporting at least one of his/her race/ethnicities as American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) was categorized as AIAN. Next, among remaining respondents, any child reporting at least one of his/her ethnicities as African American was categorized as African American. The same procedure was followed for Hispanic, Asian, and white, in that order. This order was chosen with the goal of preserving the highest numbers of children in the American Indian/Alaska Native group and other non-white ethnic groups in order to estimate relationships within ethnic groups, which is often not feasible due to low numbers.

The prevalence of obesity among adults of all ethnicities in the United States has increased in the last three decades. Roughly half of all non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American adults were obese in 2017-2018. This statistic presents the prevalence of obesity (BMI of 30 kg/m2 and over) among adults in the United States from 1988-1994 to 2017-2018, by ethnicity.

Layers in this service includes: Birth, Cancer, Hospitalization Discharge, Mortality and STI Rates, as well as Demographics.

In 2022, the highest incidence of obesity-associated cancer in the United States was among Black individuals, with a rate of 184 per 100,000 people. This graph shows the rate of obesity-related cancers per 100,000 people in the United States in 2022, by race and ethnicity.

BMI, body mass index; N, unweighted number; IQR, interquartile range.

Overweight or obese by sex, race/ethnicity, and grade, California Healthy Kids Survey, 2015-16METADATA:Notes (String): Lists table title, sourceYear (String): Year of surveyCategory (String): Lists the category representing the data: Santa Clara County is for total surveyed population, sex: Male and Female, race/ethnicity: African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino and White (non-Hispanic White only) and grade level (7th, 9th, 11th, or non-traditional).Percent (Numeric): Percentage of middle and high school students who are overweight or obese

Data on overweight and obesity among adults aged 20 and over in the United States, by selected characteristics, including sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, and poverty level. Data are from Health, United States. SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Search, visualize, and download these and other estimates from over 120 health topics with the NCHS Data Query System (DQS), available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/dataquery/index.htm.

Unadjusted associations between participant characteristics and BMI in WHI Hispanics and African Americans. (XLSX 44 kb)

Data on overweight and obesity among adults aged 20 and over in the United States, by selected characteristics, including sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, and poverty level. Data are from Health, United States. SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Search, visualize, and download these and other estimates from over 120 health topics with the NCHS Data Query System (DQS), available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/dataquery/index.htm.

From 2019 to 2021, obesity among pregnant women in the United States was highest among American Indian and Alaska Native women and Black women. This statistic depicts the percentage of pregnant women in the United States from 2019 to 2021 who were obese, overweight, normal weight, or underweight, by race/ethnicity.

Data on obesity among children and adolescents aged 2-19 years in the United States, by selected characteristics, including sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, and poverty level. Data are from Health, United States. SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Search, visualize, and download these and other estimates from over 120 health topics with the NCHS Data Query System (DQS), available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/dataquery/index.htm.

Data on obesity among children and adolescents aged 2-19 years in the United States, by selected characteristics, including sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, and poverty level. Data are from Health, United States. SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Search, visualize, and download these and other estimates from over 120 health topics with the NCHS Data Query System (DQS), available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/dataquery/index.htm.

Objective:This study is a descriptive investigation of trends in BMI in the USA over time, across race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) groups, and across different datasets. Methods: The study analyzes micro-level data from three widely used cross-sectional US health datasets: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), from the 1970s to 2008. Consistent race/ethnicity and SES groups are constructed for all datasets. SES is measured by education and income. Focusing on adults aged 20–74 years, the study estimates BMI time trends, distributional shifts, and incremental associations (gradients) with SES. Results: SES-BMI gradients are consistently larger for women than for men, differ across race/ethnicity groups, and are similar across datasets. Trends in mean BMI are comparable across White, Black and Hispanic males, while Hispanic females range between White and Black females. Self-reported BMI in the NHANES differs markedly from self-reports in the NHIS and BRFSS. Conclusion: The NHANES, NHIS, and BRFSS provide similar evidence regarding BMI trends over time and across race/ethnicity, gender, and SES groups. Racial disparities in BMI remain after adjusting for SES and should be studied further.

This statistic shows the results of a survey among American high school students in grades 9 to 12 on obesity in 2017, by gender and ethnicity. About 22.2 percent of male student respondents with a Hispanic background stated they are obese.

Roughly 15 percent of U.S. high school students from grades 9 to 12, across all genders and ethnicities, were obese between 2016 and 2017. On average, African and Hispanic students struggled more with obesity than white students. Over 22 percent of male students with a Hispanic background were reported to be obese.

Prevalence among adults

Obesity is a growing problem among all age groups in the United States. Among American adults aged 20 and over, obesity rates have risen considerably since 1997. By 2018, roughly 12 percent more adults were obese, compared to 21 years earlier.

Fast food industry

Unhealthy ingredients, larger portions, and lower cost are some of the reasons why fast food easily leads to obesity in the United States. Between 2004 and 2018, U.S. consumer spending in quick-service restaurants has increased by approximately 37.5 percent. Examples of leading restaurant chains within this sector, in terms of company value, are McDonald’s, KFC, and Domino’s Pizza.