CDC data shows that obesity rates have fallen in parts of the U.S., hinting at progress. However, some researchers warn that current obesity definitions don’t paint a full picture of America’s weight crisis
After years of steady gains, the U.S. obesity map just showed its first glimmer of hope. Nineteen states had adult obesity rates at or above 35% in 2024, down from twenty-three the year before.
The findings come from State of Obesity 2025: Better Policies for a Healthier America, a report by the nonpartisan Trust for America’s Health, based on 2024 data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and 2021-23 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The encouraging (if modest) decline comes as researchers continue to rethink how obesity is defined. A recent JAMA Network Open study suggests that under a broader definition, as many as seven in ten (70%) of Americans could be classified as obese, a shift that reframes progress and serves as a reminder that America’s weight story remains both challenging and complex.
To that point, the Trust for America’s Health report cautions that the nation’s overall obesity rate remains high (about four in ten adults) and that progress varies sharply by region and community. States with the highest adult obesity rates include West Virginia (41.4%), Mississippi (40.4 %) and Louisiana (39.2%). Colorado continues to rank the leanest at 25%, followed by Hawaii and Massachusetts at 27% and Washington, D.C., at 25.5%.
GLP-1s Add More Complexity
Though the report doesn’t link the dip in obesity rates to the growing popularity of drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy, it notes the rapid growth in GLP-1 use and the ongoing barriers of high cost and limited insurance coverage.
Still, new drugs haven’t changed the fact that obesity continues to hit some communities harder than others. Nearly half of Black adults and 46% of Latino adults have obesity, and people in rural counties are heavier than those in metropolitan areas. The report also notes that obesity rates are typically lower with higher education and household income.
While there is some encouraging news, obesity rates are still rising among children and adolescents. Just over 21% of Americans ages 2 to 19 now have obesity nationwide, a rate that has more than tripled since the mid-1970s. Black and Latino youth remain disproportionately affected.
America’s Long Road Back
In response to the alarming rates among youth, two of the nation’s largest school-health nonprofits, Action for Healthy Kids and Genyouth, recently joined forces to make schools a stronger line of defense. Their new alliance, announced this month, intends to reach more than 100,000 schools with programs that address nutrition, physical activity, mental health and food security.
Initiatives like these help, but they’re up against larger forces that shape where and how Americans live. The report links the nation’s weight issues to the structure of its economy and neighborhoods, showing how access to healthy food, physical activity and stable income still draws the country’s health map.
In light of the findings, Trust for America’s Health encourages keeping the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion intact, protecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), adding front-of-package nutrition labels, expanding access to obesity prevention and treatment and building infrastructure that makes it easier to move.
“Structural barriers to healthy eating and physical activity need continued policy attention and investment,” Trust for America’s Health president and CEO J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, said. “It is vital that government and other sectors invest in – not cut – proven programs that support good nutrition and physical activity and ensure they reach all communities.”
The report includes a special section on ultra-processed foods, noting that over the past decade, Americans have been eating more meals away from home while their consumption of fruits and vegetables has declined. At the same time, intake of ultra-processed foods has risen, and Americans now get about 55% of their daily calories from these foods, a pattern linked in research to weight gain.
The decline hints at what’s possible, but whether that progress lasts, the report suggests, will depend on how much the country is willing to keep investing in its own health.
