There are early signs that obesity rates may have decreased in the US for the first time.
A report released Tuesday by the CDC found that 40 percent of US adults were obese from 2021 to 2023, down from 42 percent from 2017 to 2020.
This is the first time there has been a year-on-year decrease since the CDC began tracking the metric in 2013, though the change is not statistically significant.
At the very least, it means obesity rates are not increasing anymore. The downward tick comes amid the rise of Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs, though experts say it’s slightly too early to know if they are playing a role.
Despite the tentative positive trend, obesity rates are still higher than 10 years ago, when 38 percent of adults had a BMI over 30, and more Americans are morbidly obese than ever.
It’s unclear why obesity rates are falling nationwide, but experts told DailyMail.com that the decrease is not satistically significant and that there is more work to be done
One in 10 – 30million – Americans are now considered ‘severely obese,’ with a BMI over 40.
This is up from one in 13 a decade ago, putting them at major higher risk of issues like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Regardless, the CDC noted that southern states like Louisiana and Oklahoma, which have historically had high rates, were among the 22 states to see drops in obesity rates last year.
The agency said that this gives them optimism about reaching the agency’s Healthy People 2030 goal, which aims to reduce obesity to 36 percent by the end of the decade.
Dr Samuel D Emmerich, a CDC researcher who worked on the report, said it’s too early to tell if drugs like Ozempic have caused any of the shift or will continue to influence overall obesity rates.
However, Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com that while the drop is encouraging, ‘there is a lot more work to be done’ and the US is not likely to see continued decline in obesity due to a high prevalence of ultra-processed food and a lack of physical activity overall.
‘It’s a periodic fluctuation. It’s not a super significant change,’ he said. ‘And 40 percent is still horrifying.’
The data was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics that interviews Americans over 20 about diet and lifestyle habits.
Researchers took participants’ height and weight to measure their BMI. A BMI over 30 is considered obese, while 40 or above is ‘severely’ or ‘morbidly’ obese.
Obesity rates were consistently highest among adults ages 40 to 59. Overall, 46 percent of Americans in that age group were considered obese.
Dr Fischer noted that this increased prevalence could be lifestyle changes around this age range.
‘When people become 40, they’re not in school, they’re not as active, they’re not playing sports,’ he said. ‘And as you age, metabolism slows – most significantly in that period.’
‘At 40, you stand at a crossroads in health.’
When metabolism slows, the body burns fewer calories and stores more of them as fasr. Over time, this could lead to weight gain and difficulty keeping weight off.
This percentage of obese adults in this age range is a staggering jump from the next highest age group, those 60 and older, 39 percent of whom were considered obese. Meanwhile, 35.5 percent of those ages 20 to 39 were obese.
Older adults may be less likely to meet the obesity threshold due to a natural loss of fat and muscle mass over time.
Additionally, elderly adults often have smaller appetites due to their metabolism slowing down, meaning they need less energy from food.
They may also lose their taste buds over time, making food less appealing.
Reduced appetite is also as common sign of dementia, which most often affects adults over 65 and becomes more likely every five years after.
As for younger people, a 2022 CDC report found that adults ages 18 to 34 were the most likely age group to meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. These recommend 150 minutes of physical activity per week
This could play a role in reducing the risk of obesity among this age group.
The above graph shows findings from a new CDC report, which states that obesity rates have fallen for the first time ever, though they still remain higher than 2013-2014
The above bar chart shows the age breakdown for obesity, according to the CDC’s report. Adults ages 40 to 59 were consistently more likely to be obese than other age groups
The CDC team noted that while 40 percent of Americans overall are obese, there was no significant difference between men and women in any age group.
However, women were twice as likely to be severely obese, meaning they had a BMI over 40. While 6.7 percent of men met this threshold, that number jumped to 12.1 percent for women.
This could be due to biological factors like menopause, leftover weight from pregnancy, and conditions like overactive thyroid, which is about eight times more likely in women than men.
As the new report shows a reduction in obesity overall, additional recent data reveals which states could be behind this downward trend.
Earlier this month, the CDC also released 2023 state-by-state obesity data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveys 400,000 adults in all 50 states, DC, and three territories.
When compared to the previous year’s survey, 22 states showed decreases in obesity rates.
The largest decrease was seen in Nevada, which went from 33.6 percent in 2022 to 30.8 percent in 2023.
Idaho and Georgia followed closely behind, decreasing from 33.2 to 31 percent and 37 to 35 percent, respectively.
Louisiana and Oklahoma, 2022’s second and third most obese states, also saw slight decreases.
America’s most obese state, West Virginia, remained the same at 41.2 percent in both 2022 and 2023.
However, obesity rates surged from 2022 to 2023 in 20 states. Alaska saw the largest increase, going from 32.2 percent to 35.2 percent.
New Mexico followed closely behind with a rate of 35.3, up from 32.4 in 2022.
New Hampshire, Illinois, and Arkansas all tied for third-most increases, all going up 2.6 percent from 2022 to 2023.
