State of Obesity Report 2026: Better Policies for a Healthier America

New data found that 21 states had adult obesity rates at or above 35 percent in 2025 —compared to 19 states in 2024 and 23 states in 2023. By contrast, no state had reached a 35 percent threshold in 2012.

The report, based in part on Trust for America’s Health analysis of 2025 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System  (BRFSS), and data from the 2021-2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), shows that while the rise in the number of U.S. adults with obesity remains steady, the nation’s overall obesity rate continues to be high.

This year’s report release comes amid significant changes to the nation’s approaches to preventing chronic disease, including the increase in use of GLP-1 medications and a renewed emphasis on promoting healthy eating. At the same time, fewer people have access to nutrition supports, and federal programs intended to prevent chronic disease have seen their capacity significantly weakened.

Despite an increased national focus on healthy eating, provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have reduced access to healthy, affordable meals at a time of higher food costs. Five million people — including an estimated 1.5 million children — have already lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical source of food and nutrition security for many Americans. The CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion also lost more than 200 staff through reductions in force, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) restructuring plan may cause significant staff shortages in the offices that support federal nutrition programs like SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The President’s fiscal year 2027 budget also calls for eliminating the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity and reorganizing and cutting funding for many longstanding chronic disease prevention activities previously housed in CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion under the proposed Administration for a Healthy America. If enacted, the President’s budget would eliminate many obesity and chronic disease prevention programs, such as the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Program, and the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

“After decades of rising obesity rates in this country, we are finally starting to see adult rates stabilize.  These data are encouraging, but we cannot afford to lose momentum. Our goal remains ensuring every person has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, President and CEO of TFAH. “Eliminating proven obesity prevention programs and reducing food security for millions of people put the health and economic well-being of Americans at risk.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Nationally, 4 in 10 American adults have obesity. Obesity rates are increasing among children and adolescents, with just over 21 percent of U.S. children and adolescents, ages 2 to 19, having obesity nationwide. (2021–2023 NHANES)
• Two states, Louisiana and West Virginia, saw statistically significant decreases in their adult obesity rates between 2024 and 2025. Louisiana went from 39.2 percent in 2024 to 35.6 percent in 2025. West Virginia went from 41.4 percent in 2024 to 37.4 percent in 2025. No state had statistically significant increases. (2025 data from BRFSS)

• Differences in the adult obesity rates between states remain considerable, with a low of 25.7 percent in Colorado and 26.4 percent in Hawaii — as well as 24.2 percent in the District of Columbia — to a high of 39.7 percent in Alabama, 39.1 percent in North Dakota, and 38.8 percent in Kentucky. (2025 data from BRFSS)

Obesity and other diet-related diseases are associated with a range of physical and mental health conditions, higher mortality, higher healthcare costs, and productivity losses. While obesity rates depend on many factors, economic and community context shape Americans’ daily life and available choices around healthy food, physical activity, education, jobs, stress, and financial security, which systematically affect people’s weight and health.

While obesity rates have increased for all population groups, groups with higher rates, including people who live in rural communities and some populations of color, typically face more structural barriers to healthy eating, including food cost and access and a lack of opportunities and safe places to be physically active in their neighborhoods.

A special feature in this year’s report examines the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans and their implications for food and nutrition programs like school meals, WIC, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The Dietary Guidelines aim to serve as a model for individuals to follow as they make dietary decisions for themselves and their families. They also are a foundation for the standards for federal food and nutrition programs that reach millions of Americans every year.

When new Dietary Guidelines are released, USDA typically develops guidance for federal food and nutrition programs to align them with the new Dietary Guidelines. This includes federal nutrition programs like the National School Lunch Program, which feeds 30 million children every day; WIC, which serves 6.9 million parents and children every year; and CACFP, which serves 4.8 million children annually.

To date, USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have not issued new overarching nutrition standards or guidance to align school meals, CACFP, WIC, or other nutrition programs with the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines. Both agencies have indicated that they will soon issue guidance and have rolled out various voluntary pledges for schools, hospitals, and other settings to make updates to the food they serve.

The report authors highlight some of the challenges of implementing the new Dietary Guidelines in federal nutrition programs: reducing processed foods requires more staff time, kitchen equipment, and often major infrastructure investments; and added sugars are pervasive across many staple foods, including bread and yogurt. These will be crucial considerations when USDA issues new guidance on nutrition standards for school meals and other nutrition programs.

In the feature section, TFAH recommends strengthening future Dietary Guidelines by ensuring they adhere to rigorous scientific and process standards, improving access to healthy foods and resources for nutrition programs and the public, and strengthening the guidelines’ educational components.

The report includes recommendations for policy action by the administration, Congress, and states to address the nation’s obesity crisis, including:

• Congress should support public health infrastructure by increasing investments in CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity to support prevention activities across the country.

• The administration should ensure federal public health agencies are fully staffed to carry out their missions.

• Congress should work to improve nutritional quality and nutrition security by reversing the changes to the SNAP program in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that have led to reduced SNAP access for families in need.

• Federal and state policymakers should expand access to healthy school meals for all schoolchildren.

• Policymakers should institute sugary beverage taxes to discourage consumption of unhealthy foods, while funding public health initiatives.

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should create and implement a mandatory front-of-package nutrition label system for packaged foods to help consumers make informed choices.

• Congress should close tax loopholes and eliminate business-cost deductions related to the advertising of unhealthy food and beverages to children

• Policymakers should support programs like Academic Enrichment Grants and Every Kid Outdoors that encourage physical activity in childhood, setting children up with a foundation for a healthy, active lifestyle.

• Localities should implement Complete Streets and Vision Zero transportation plans that prioritize safe, active transportation.