U.S. Adult Obesity Rates Hold Steady Amid Recent Upheavals to Nutrition and Prevention Policies and Programs

Special Feature Examines Challenges and Implications of Implementing New Dietary Guidelines in Federal Nutrition Programs

(Washington, DC — September 24, 2026) A new Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) report finds that 21 states had adult obesity rates at or above 35 percent in 2025. The 2025 total falls between the 19 states recorded in 2024 and the 23 states recorded in 2023. By contrast, no state had reached a 35 percent threshold in 2012.

The report, State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America 2026, is based in part on TFAH’s analysis of newly released 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).

Key findings from the report include:

• The nation’s overall obesity rate continues to be high. 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)

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.”

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.

“CACFP operators are caregivers first and foremost. They support children and older adults every day while providing nutritious meals alongside many other responsibilities,” said Alexia Thex, M.Ed., President of the National CACFP Association. “Successfully implementing new nutrition standards will require investment, training, and ongoing support.”

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.

Policymakers can address root causes of obesity by making healthy food and physical activity accessible, affordable, and convenient. 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.

Read the full report

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Trust for America’s Health is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization that promotes optimal health for every person and community and makes the prevention of illness and injury a national priority.