The U.S. is facing an obesity epidemic. New report details the best and worst states.
(October 16, 2025)
The number of U.S. states where 35% or more of adults were obese dropped slightly in 2024, according to a report released Thursday analyzing federal health data.
Nineteen states had these particularly high rates of adult obesity, down from 23 states a year earlier.
“That’s actually the first time that there’s been a decrease in the number of states that are at or above that 35% level since this dataset began in 2011,” said Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of the Trust for America’s Health, the nonpartisan public health research and policy organization that released its annual “State of Obesity” report.