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 42 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 33 percent of the adult population in the U.S. is now considered obese. Obesity rates can vary substantially by state, with around 41 percent of the adult population in West Virginia reportedly obese, compared to 25 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 eight percent of adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is now the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for three 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.

West Virginia, Mississippi, and Arkansas are the U.S. states with the highest percentage of their population who are obese. The states with the lowest percentage of their population who are obese include Colorado, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. Obesity in the United States Obesity is a growing problem in many countries around the world, but the United States has the highest rate of obesity among all OECD countries. The prevalence of obesity in the United States has risen steadily over the previous two decades, with no signs of declining. Obesity in the U.S. is more common among women than men, and overweight and obesity rates are higher among African Americans than any other race or ethnicity. Causes and health impacts Obesity is most commonly the result of a combination of poor diet, overeating, physical inactivity, and a genetic susceptibility. Obesity is associated with various negative health impacts, including an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancer, and diabetes type 2. As of 2022, around 8.4 percent of the U.S. population had been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is currently the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.

In 2023, around 36 percent of all adult Hispanics in Texas were obese. In the United States, processed foods are often cheaper than fresh foods, which can impact those with lower income and lead to more weight gain. This statistic depicts the obesity rates for adults in Texas in 2023, by race/ethnicity.

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.

From 2017 to 2018, around 27 percent of Mexican American children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years were obese. This statistic illustrates the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in the United States aged 2–19 years from 1988 to 2018, by ethnicity.

In 2022, over 33 percent of both men and women in the United States reported themselves as obese (BMI over 30), making it the country with the highest percentage of obese adults on this list. Other selected countries on the list with a high prevalence of obesity among adults included the United Kingdom and Australia. Obesity groups in the United States In 2022, Black adults had the highest overweight and obesity rates of any race or ethnicity in the United States. Asians and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders had the lowest rates by far, with roughly 14 percent. In 2021, about 30 percent of people aged 65 and older were obese in the United States. This estimate has been steadily increasing since 2013 when roughly 27 percent of elderly Americans were obese. Leading health problems worldwide Obesity was considered one of 2023’s biggest health problems: 25 percent of adults worldwide stated that obesity was the biggest health issue for people within their country. Around 44 percent of adults stated that mental health was the most significant problem facing their country that year.

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.

This statistic depicts the percentage of U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan populations that were obese as of 2016, by ethnicity. According to the data, among metropolitan populations, around 37.7 percent of black, non-Hispanic residents were obese.

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.

In 2023, around 43 percent of all adult Hispanics in Oklahoma were obese. Certain environments in the United States may encourage an unhealthy lifestyle that leads to obesity. This statistic depicts the obesity rates for adults in Oklahoma in 2023, by race/ethnicity.

In 2023, some 43 percent of all Black adults in Georgia were obese. Childhood obesity in the United States is also on the rise, with affected children more likely to remain obese as adults. This statistic depicts the obesity rates for adults in Georgia in 2023, by race/ethnicity.

From 2017 to March 2020, the obesity prevalence among Hispanic men was around 45 percent. This statistic represents the obesity prevalence among adults aged 20 and older in the United States from 2017 to March 2020, sorted by gender and race/ethnicity.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has revealed existing health inequalities in racial and ethnic minority groups in the US. This work investigates and quantifies the non-uniform effects of geographical location and other known risk factors on various ethnic groups during the COVID-19 pandemic at a national level. To quantify the geographical impact on various ethnic groups, we grouped all the states of the US. into four different regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and considered Non-Hispanic White (NHW), Non-Hispanic Black (NHB), Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Asian (NHA) as ethnic groups of our interest. Our analysis showed that infection and mortality among NHB and Hispanics are considerably higher than NHW. In particular, the COVID-19 infection rate in the Hispanic community was significantly higher than their population share, a phenomenon we observed across all regions in the US but is most prominent in the West. To gauge the differential impact of comorbidities on different ethnicities, we performed cross-sectional regression analyses of statewide data for COVID-19 infection and mortality for each ethnic group using advanced age, poverty, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes as risk factors. After removing the risk factors causing multicollinearity, poverty emerged as one of the independent risk factors in explaining mortality rates in NHW, NHB, and Hispanic communities. Moreover, for NHW and NHB groups, we found that obesity encapsulated the effect of several other comorbidities such as advanced age, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. At the same time, advanced age was the most robust predictor of mortality in the Hispanic group. Our study quantifies the unique impact of various risk factors on different ethnic groups, explaining the ethnicity-specific differences observed in the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings could provide insight into focused public health strategies and interventions.

Pseudo-panel by race and gender

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.

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.

This statistic displays the obesity rate among boys aged between 2 and 19 years in the United States from 2011 to 2014, sorted by ethnicity. In that time, five percent of white boys were reported to be extremely obese, compared to 8.9 percent of black boys.

In 2019, 39.1 percent of non-Hispanic black women in the U.S. were obese prior to pregnancy, compared to 36.4 percent in 2016. This statistic illustrates the percentage of women experiencing prepregnancy obesity in the United States from 2016 to 2019, by maternal race and Hispanic origin.