Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S. About 4 in 10 Americans have obesity overall and about 1 in 10 have severe obesity.

Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S., but the proportion of those with severe obesity — especially women — has climbed since a decade ago, according to new government research.

The U.S. obesity rate is about 40%, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. Nearly 1 in 10 of those surveyed reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report severe obesity.

The overall obesity rate appeared to tick down vs. the 2017-2020 survey, but the change wasn’t considered statistically significant; the numbers are small enough that there’s mathematical chance they didn’t truly decline.

That means it’s too soon to know whether new treatments for obesity, including blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, can help ease the epidemic of the chronic disease linked to a host of health problems, according to Dr. Samuel Emmerich, the CDC public health officer who led the latest study.

  • KatherineEnglish
    3•2 months ago

    The mechanism you are describing about fat cells refilling vs making new cells, does not make sense. They have done studies, and the number of fat cells remain constant during adulthood, unless you undergo liposuction or other procedures. I think what you are describing is a set point weight, where your body tries (via hormones I think) to maintain its preferred weight. So its more a metabolism effect rather than physical space issue about storing fat.