Obesity rate among US adults fell in 2023 for first time in over a decade: Study

The obesity rate among U.S. adults fell in 2023 for the first time in over a decade, according to a new study released on Friday. 

The study published in the journal JAMA Health Forum found that obesity nationwide has dropped from 46 percent in 2022 to 45.6 percent last year. The researchers also discovered that obesity has declined substantially in the South, including among women older adults, ages 66 to 75. 

“In the U.S overall, obesity was on the decline, led by the South, but in some regions that weren’t the case,” computational epidemiologist Benjamin Rader and the study’s author told NBC News. 

“We also saw large drops among Black Americans, but we saw increases in obesity among Asian Americans,” he added. 

The study was conducted with over 16.7 million adults from 2013 to 2023. The authors looked at people from different age groups, races, sexes, ethnicities and regions. The researchers examined body mass index (BMI) figures that were observed from people’s health records. 

Experts have said previously that although BMI is not an ideal measurement for chronicling variations in body structures, it is still the best-correlated figure for examining body fat on a population-level scale. 

The results of the study come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that was released in late September found that obesity in the U.S. was not growing. The report said that approximately 40.3 percent of adults were obese, a slight downturn compared to the previous three years. 

A new research study, that was released in mid-November, found that almost three-quarters of Americans are considered obese or overweight, with greater spikes among those between the ages 5 to 24.