Issue Category: Obesity/Chronic Disease

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.

Las tasas de obesidad siguen teniendo niveles de epidemia en los Estados Unidos a pesar de la caída durante todo un año en estados con tasas superiores al 35 %

El recorte en los presupuestos federales podría revertir el reciente progreso

(Washington, DC – 16 de octubre de 2025) – Datos recientemente publicados revelaron que diecinueve estados tenían tasas de obesidad adulta del 35 % o más en 2024, en comparación con 23 estados el año anterior, lo que significó un descenso por primera vez del número de estados con una tasa del 35 % o superior para este conjunto de datos.

Sin embargo, este progreso está limitado y en riesgo debido en parte a las recientes acciones federales para recapturar y reducir los fondos para programas de salud pública, eliminar programas, despedir a especialistas que trabajan en la prevención de las enfermedades crónicas y limitar el acceso a los apoyos nutricionales. Esta es la conclusión a la que llega el estudio State of Obesity 2025: Better Policies for a Healthier America (“Estado de la obesidad 2025: Mejores políticas para un país más sano”) publicado hoy por Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), una organización sin fines de lucro y apartidaria dedicada a la investigación y las políticas en materia de salud pública.

La investigación, basada en parte en el análisis que TFAH hizo de datos de 2024 recientemente publicados por el Sistema de Vigilancia de los Factores de Riesgo Conductuales (BRFSS) de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades, datos recientes de la Encuesta de Salud Nacional y Examen de Nutrición 2021-2023 (NHANES), muestra que, si bien la suba en el número de personas adultas con obesidad se ralentizó en algunos estados, la tasa de obesidad nacional general sigue siendo alarmantemente alta. A nivel nacional, 4 de cada 10 personas adultas tienen obesidad.

“Las barreras estructurales que obstaculizan la alimentación saludable y la actividad física necesitan continua atención por parte de las políticas públicas e inversión —expresó J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, presidenta y directora ejecutiva de Trust for America’s Health—. Es vital que el Gobierno y otros sectores inviertan, en lugar de recortar, en programas que han demostrado que apoyan la buena nutrición y la actividad física y que aseguran que se llegue a todas las comunidades”.

Conclusiones clave incluidas en el informe:

  • Los estados con mayores tasas de obesidad en personas adultas en 2024 fueron Virginia Occidental (41,4 %), Misisipi (40,4 %) y Luisiana (39,2 %) (datos de 2024 del BRFSS).
  • Los estados con menores niveles de obesidad en personas adultas en 2024 fueron Colorado (25,0 %), Hawái (27,0 %) y Massachusetts (27,0 %) más Washington, D.C. (25,5 %) (datos de 2024 del BRFSS).
  • Las personas adultas negras y latinas tuvieron las tasas de obesidad más altas con un 49,9 % y un 45,6 % respectivamente.
  • Quienes viven en comunidades rurales tienden a tener tasas de obesidad más altas que quienes habitan en áreas metropolitanas.
  • Los niveles de obesidad son típicamente más bajos entre personas con estudios universitarios y para personas en hogares con mayores ingresos, lo que sugiere que la asequibilidad de los alimentos saludables desempeñan un papel en las tasas de obesidad de la nación.

Las tasas de obesidad están aumentando en la población infantil y adolescente. Poco más del 21 % de los niños, niñas y adolescentes estadounidenses, entre los 2 y los 19 años, tienen obesidad a nivel nacional (NHANES, 2021-2023).

  • Estas tasas crecieron más del triple desde mediados de la década de 1970, y la juventud negra y latina tienen índices de obesidad considerablemente más altos que sus pares de comunidades asiáticas y blancas.

La obesidad y otras enfermedades relacionadas con la dieta están asociadas con una variedad de estados de salud física y mental, mortalidad más alta, costos de salud más altos y pérdida de productividad. Si bien las tasas de obesidad dependen de muchos factores, el contexto económico y de la comunidad determinan tanto la vida diaria de la población como sus opciones con respecto a alimentos saludables, actividad física, educación, trabajo y seguridad financiera, lo cual afecta sistemáticamente el peso y la salud de las personas.

Aunque las tasas de obesidad aumentaron para todos los grupos poblacionales, los grupos con índices más altos, que incluyen a personas que viven en comunidades rurales y algunas poblaciones no blancas, típicamente enfrentan más barreras estructurales que obstaculizan la alimentación saludable, como el costo de la comida y el acceso a ella, y la falta de oportunidades y lugares para hacer actividad física en sus vecindarios.

El informe incluye un especial sobre los hallazgos científicos emergentes y las consideraciones políticas en torno a los alimentos ultraprocesados y el papel que desempeñan en la crisis de obesidad, una problemática que está atrayendo creciente atención a nivel nacional y que constituye el foco de la iniciativa Make America Healthy Again. Las autoras del estudio entrevistaron a un director de nutrición escolar de Colorado que se explayó sobre dificultades técnicas y financieras específicas asociadas con la eliminación de alimentos ultraprocesados en las comidas escolares.

El documento también resalta los programas federales que buscan hacer frente al incremento de las tasas de enfermedades crónicas como la obesidad. Sin embargo, el presupuesto presidencial para el año fiscal 2026 propone la eliminación casi total del Centro Nacional para la Prevención de Enfermedades Crónicas y Promoción de la Salud en los CDC. Entre las labores de este centro, hay programas fundamentales que financian iniciativas estatales, locales, tribales y territoriales para hacer frente y prevenir la obesidad, la diabetes, la enfermedad cardíaca, el accidente cerebrovascular y otras enfermedades crónicas.

El informe incluye recomendaciones para la acción política para la administración, el Congreso y los estados a fin de afrontar la crisis de obesidad de la nación, entre ellas:

  • Conservar y fortalecer el Centro Nacional para la Prevención de Enfermedades Crónicas y Promoción de la Salud en los CDC, que apoya actividades comprobadas de prevención de enfermedades en estados y comunidades.
  • Revertir los recortes efectuados y propuestos a programas de apoyo a la nutrición al tiempo que se mejora la calidad nutricional de los alimentos disponibles, incluidos Programa Asistencial de Nutrición Suplementaria (SNAP) y el Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Especial para Mujeres, Bebés y Niños (WIC).
  • La Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos debería implementar un requisito de etiquetado nutricional frontal de los envases para ayudar a la población a hacer elecciones informadas.
  • Garantizar el acceso a la salud, incluidos los programas de prevención y tratamiento de la obesidad, revirtiendo los recortes a Medicaid y a los subsidios para el mercado de salud.
  • Atacar los causas principales y los factores que impulsan la disparidades en la salud y dirigir los programas de prevención de la obesidad a las comunidades con mayores necesidades.
  • Hacer que la actividad física sea más accesible incrementando las iniciativas fundamentadas empíricamente que apoyan el transporte activo y la actividad física en las comunidades.
  • Abordar las estrategias de marketing y de precios de la industria para reducir la publicidad de alimentos poco saludables dirigida a niños y niñas.

El informe completo puede leerse en: https://www.tfah.org/report-details/state-of-obesity-report-2025

 

Trust for America’s Health es una organización sin fines de lucro y apartidaria dedicada a las políticas de salud pública, la investigación y la incidencia que promueve la salud óptima para cada persona y comunidad y hace de la prevención de enfermedades y lesiones una prioridad nacional.

 

 

U.S. Adult Obesity Rates Remain at Epidemic Levels Despite a One-Year Dip in States with Obesity Rates Over 35 Percent

Federal budget cuts risk reversing recent progress 

(Washington, DC – October 16, 2025) – Newly released data found that nineteen states had adult obesity rates at or above 35 percent in 2024, down from 23 states the prior year, a first time decrease in the number of states at or above the 35 percent level for this dataset.

However, this progress is limited and at risk due in part to recent federal actions to claw back and reduce funding for public health programs, eliminate programs and lay off experts that work on chronic disease prevention, and limit access to nutrition supports. So concludes a new report, State of Obesity 2025: Better Policies for a Healthier America, released today by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a non-partisan, non-profit organization focused on public health research and policy.

The report, based in part on TFAH’s analysis of newly released 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System  (BRFSS), and recent 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 slowed in some states, the nation’s overall obesity rate continues to be alarmingly high. Nationally, 4 in 10 American adults have obesity.

“Structural barriers to healthy eating and physical activity need continued policy attention and investment,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “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.”

Key findings from the report include:

  • The states with the highest rates of obesity among adults in 2024 were West Virginia (41.4%), Mississippi (40.4%), and Louisiana (39.2%) (2024 data from BRFSS).
  • States with lowest levels of adult obesity in 2024 were Colorado (25.0%), Hawaii (27.0%), and Massachusetts (27.0%) plus Washington, D.C. (25.5%) (2024 data from BRFSS).
  • Black and Latino adults had the highest rates of obesity at 49.9 percent and 45.6 percent respectively.
  • People living in rural communities tend to have higher rates of obesity compared to people living in metro areas.
  • Obesity levels are typically lower among people with college degrees and for people with higher household incomes, suggesting that the affordability of healthy foods plays a role in nation’s rates of people with 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).

  • These rates have more than tripled since the mid-1970s, and Black and Latino youth have substantially higher rates of obesity compared to their Asian and white peers.

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.

The report includes a special feature on the emerging science and policy considerations concerning ultra-processed foods and their role in the obesity crisis, an issue that is gaining increased national attention and is a focus of the Make America Healthy Again effort. The report authors interviewed a Colorado school nutrition director who delves into the specific technical and funding challenges associated with limiting ultra-processed foods in school meals.

The report also highlights the federal programs that seek to address rising rates of chronic diseases like obesity. However, the president’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request proposes the near total elimination of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at CDC. The center’s work includes cornerstone programs that fund state, local, tribal, and territorial efforts to address and prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and other chronic diseases.

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

  • Retain and strengthen the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at CDC, which supports proven disease prevention activities in states and communities.
  • Reverse cuts or proposed cuts to nutrition support programs while improving the nutritional quality of available foods, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
  • The Food and Drug Administration should implement a front-of-package nutrition label requirement to help consumers make informed choices.
  • Ensure access to healthcare, including obesity prevention and treatment programs, by reversing cuts to Medicaid and marketplace subsidies.
  • Address upstream drivers and root causes of health disparities and target obesity prevention programs to communities with the highest needs.
  • Make physical activity more accessible by increasing evidence-based initiatives that support active transportation and physical activity in communities.
  • Address industry marketing and pricing strategies to reduce advertising of unhealthy foods to children.

Read the full report

2024 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2025

During 2024, Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) continued its work to create a more resilient, trusted, and equitable public health system, and a healthier nation.

TFAH continued its work in a number of critical issue areas to improve the nation’s health, including emergency preparedness, public health funding, chronic disease prevention, the role of food and nutrition policy in stemming the nation’s obesity crisis, preventing substance misuse and suicide, supporting healthy aging, and addressing the health impacts of climate change and other environmental health risks.

Progress and Risks

The nation’s public health system is at an inflection point; progress has been made in many areas but there are also continuing and potential new risks to the nation’s health. The following are examples of areas of progress and areas of risk.

Areas of progress:

  • Drug overdose deaths, including from fentanyl, are down. The reduction can be credited in part to the increased availability of treatment options and the adoption of harm reduction strategies such as readily available naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, in many communities. However, disparities persist, with overdose rates increasing in many Black and Native American communities.
  • COVID-19 infection rates are currently low across the country, a testament to what can be achieved when the public health community rallies and has the funding and resources necessary to meet an immediate challenge.
  • Investments in public health data modernization, wastewater surveillance, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics have improved the nation’s ability to identify and track emerging health threats. The Center has awarded more than $100 million to partners who are technologically advancing the use of outbreak data to control infectious disease spread.
  • Fifty-nine state and local health departments have earned Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Recognition Status through TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative by making healthy aging a core function of the department. In addition, four public health organizations and 154 individual public health practitioners have been recognized as public health champions.
  • Fifteen states and D.C. have adopted paid sick leave laws which require private employers to provide paid sick leave to employees attending to their own or a family member’s health. Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska will require employers to provide paid sick leave beginning in 2025. Paid sick leave has been a long-standing TFAH policy recommendation.

Areas of risk:

  • Public health faces a serious funding cliff as monies infused into the public health system as part of the pandemic response are expiring or in some cases rescinded. The loss of such funding returns the public health system to the state of underfunding it experienced for decades prior to the global pandemic. TFAH’s annual report, The Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System 2024: Trends, Risks, and Recommendations called attention to the critical need to increase investment in public health on a sustained basis.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic exposed serious gaps in the nation’s emergency infrastructure that have not been fully addressed. Furthermore, misinformation about the pandemic, particularly about lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, contributed to an uptick in mistrust of public health officials that could lead to more vaccine hesitancy and challenges to important public health authorities, all of which could make containing future disease outbreaks more difficult.
  • New disease outbreaks such as the H5N1 Bird Flu could grow.
  • Rates of recommended childhood vaccinations are down.
  • Health disparities continue to impact the nation. Rates of chronic disease are on the rise in every community but are higher, for example, among many communities of color and in rural communities, due to structural barriers to health like access to healthy and affordable food, secure housing, and opportunities for physical activity in those communities.
  • Health risks are also increasing due to an increase in the number and severity of weather-related incidents including extended periods of extreme heat and extreme heat in regions of the country unaccustomed to such weather.

Working With Partners and Providing Leadership to Strengthen the Nation’s Public Health Ecosystem

TFAH released its Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress in October, after consultation with more than 45 experts, practitioners, organizations, and community members. The Blueprint provides the incoming Administration and Congress a policy roadmap for improving the nation’s health, economy, and national security within six priority areas: 1) invest in public health infrastructure and workforce, 2) strengthen prevention, readiness, and response to health security threats, 3) promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities across the lifespan, 4) advance health equity by addressing structural discrimination, 5) address the non-medical drivers of health to improve the nation’s health outcomes, and 6) enhance and protect the scientific integrity, effectiveness, and accountability of agencies charged with protecting the health of all Americans.

Working with partners across multiple sectors is central to TFAH’s work. TFAH staff led or participated in a number of coalitions during 2024, including the Coalition for Health Funding, the CDC Coalition, the Common Health Coalition, the Well-Being Working Group, the Injury and Violence Prevention Network, National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, the Coalition to Stop Flu, the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition, the Age-Friendly Ecosystem Collaborative, the National Alliance to Impact the Social Determinants of Health, the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health, and the National Council on Environmental Health & Equity.

Advocating for Evidence-Based Solutions

A healthy community supports the health of individuals and families by creating access to non-medical drivers of health such as secure housing, transportation, quality healthcare, high-quality childcare and educational opportunities, and jobs that pay a living wage. Such health security supports individuals, families, communities, and the nation’s economy.

Throughout the year, TFAH convened partners to strategize ways to effectively advance health promoting policies and programs at the federal and state levels. In addition, TFAH staff worked with numerous federal agencies and offices, like CDC, FDA, and SAMHSA, as well as public health organizations such as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), Big Cities Health Coalition, and the National Governors Association to advance policies and garner support for programs that will improve Americans’ health. Among TFAH’s legislative goals for 2024 and moving into 2025 are increased and sustained investment in public health agencies, infrastructure, and programs; passage of a new Farm bill that provides access to nutrition support programs; reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act and the Older Americans Act; and passage of the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act and the Social Determinants of Health Act.

These advocacy efforts earned numerous policy wins, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) updates to school meals formulas and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefit food packages that aligns with TFAH recommendations.

TFAH’s core annual reports, which track data and recommend policy solutions in the areas of emergency preparedness, public health funding, preventing substance misuse and suicide, and addressing the nation’s obesity crisis, continue to be a critical source for data trends and evidence-based policy and program solutions for health officials, policymakers, other decision-makers, and advocates across the country.

Making Healthy Aging a Core Function of Local Health Departments

Through its Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Initiative (AFPHS), TFAH continues to provide guidance and resources to state and local health departments to help them promote healthy aging in their communities. During 2024, AFPHS co-hosted the 2024 National Healthy Aging Symposium with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The symposium brought together speakers from sectors across all levels of government, philanthropy, academia, nonprofits, community-based organizations, tribal representatives, and others who shared their perspectives on important topics related to healthy aging including caregiving, brain health, the caregiving workforce, transportation, housing, and social engagement. TFAH also launched the Age-Friendly Ecosystem Collaborative to continuously engage organizations and sectors central to healthy aging.

Supporting Public Health Communicators

TFAH continues to be a managing partner of the Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC). PHCC provides no-cost messaging resources and communications training to state and local health departments to help the field effectively address the public’s information needs on public health issues. The Collaborative was first established during the COVID-19 pandemic and now works across the public health sector on such issues as H5N1 Bird Flu, Mpox, protecting health during periods of extreme heat, and vaccine confidence. Its training materials include resources on strengthening public health through community engagement, responding to misinformation, and using social media in health communications. The PHCC newsletter is shared with over 38,000 opted-in subscribers, and its website has earned over 1.2 million page views since its launch in 2020.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 calendar year promises to be pivotal for the nation’s health. TFAH looks forward to bringing evidence-based policy recommendations to the new Administration and Congress, particularly on issues such as emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention, mental health, veterans’ and rural health, and investing in prevention to reverse the pattern of increasing healthcare spending without better health outcomes. We are committed to making the case for policies and programs that address the non-medical drivers of health in order to promote the nation’s health and economic security.

New National Adult Obesity Data Show Level Trend

Stabilization of Obesity Rates is Welcome News but More Investment in Prevention Policies and Programs is Needed

(Washington, DC – October 10, 2024) – Over the last two decades, obesity has increased across the country in both adults and children. Newly released National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2021–2023 find that 40.3 percent of adults had obesity, which is slightly lower than the previous data (2017–2020). This is tentatively positive news, as it suggests a possible stabilization of the overall adult obesity rates in the United States in recent years— though the rate is still much higher than prior decades.

Percent of Adults Ages 20 and Older with Obesity, 1999-2023


Source: NHANES

Obesity is a complex disease that is influenced by many factors beyond personal behavior. Reversing the nation’s obesity crisis requires sustained investment in multidimensional strategies and policies, that are tailored for population groups and regional differences. As TFAH’s September 2024 State of Obesity report explores, there are a number of evidence-based policies and programs that improve nutrition and support healthy eating, and help to reduce rates of obesity and chronic disease.

This includes important policy progress, like:

  • Improving nutritional quality of the food supply and diets by prohibiting trans fats in foods, instituting voluntary guidance to reduce sodium in commercial foods, and taxing sugar sweetened beverages to reduce added sugar consumption.
  • Empowering consumers through better labeling and education, like improved Nutrition Facts labels, new restaurant menu labeling, and family education programs.
  • Increasing nutritional quality and access in schools, institutions, and nutrition programs, including aligning child nutrition programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

(See State of Obesity report pages 14–17 for more on these nutrition and food environment policies.)

Looking forward, we need to build on these initial steps to ensure that adult obesity rates continue to trend in the right direction, including critical policies like:

  • Increase federal resources for evidence-based, effective efforts that reduce obesity-related disparities and related conditions including funding for CDC’s chronic disease and obesity prevention programs, such as the State Physical Activity and Nutrition, Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health, and Healthy Tribes
  • Decrease food and nutrition insecurity while improving the nutritional quality of available foods in every community by, among other activities, providing healthy school meals for all students and maintaining progress on the final 2024 school nutritional meal standards. In addition, Congress should expand access to nutrition support programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and WIC, and increase the value of their benefits.
  • To help consumers make informed choices, the Food and Drug Administration should swiftly implement a front-of-package label that will help people more easily understand the nutrients of concern in packaged foods.

(See State of Obesity 2024 recommendations on pages 67–76 for additional measures policymakers should take to continue to make progress in efforts to help all Americans maintain a healthy weight.)

“It is welcome news that the latest NHANES data suggest the overall adult obesity rate in this country has not been increasing in recent years,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health. “However, much more needs to be done to address this health crisis. This is a critical moment to increase our efforts: boost and sustain investment in proven obesity prevention policies and programs and build healthier communities where everyone has access to affordable, nutritious foods and safe places to engage in physical activity.”

The new NHANES report also highlights the link between obesity and socioeconomic status. Like previous years, the new data show clear differences in obesity prevalence by educational attainment, with lower obesity rates for adults with a bachelor’s degree (31.6 percent) than in adults with less education (high school diploma or less (44.6 percent) and those with some college (45.0 percent). This underscores the critical role of policies and programs that boost accessibility and affordability of healthy food for all Americans.

Notably, the newly released report does not include data by race/ethnicity, though we hope that will be released later this year. Previous years’ data have shown large differences in obesity prevalence and trends by race/ethnicity. Understanding trends across different racial/ethnic groups, and if disparities are increasing or decreasing, is essential for a complete picture and successful policy response.

See TFAH’s State of Obesity 2024: Better Policies for a Healthier America report for more information about obesity rates and solutions.