Americas · Country profile
Obesity in United States
41.0% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 19th highest of 199 countries.
41.0%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 38.2%–43.7%
Source: WHO
114 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
21.8%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#19
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of United States in numbers
In 2024, about 41.0% of adults in United States were living with obesity — about 1 in 2 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 38.2% to 43.7%). That is roughly 114 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 19th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Americas region (34.4%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 12.1%. Since then it has gone up by 28.9 percentage points — about 3.4 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 19.6 million to 114 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 42.4% compared with 39.6%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 21.8% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 5.8% in 1980 — around 14 million young people.
For context, 12.5% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 33.7% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,947 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in United States: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 10.5% to 39.6%, and women from 13.5% to 42.4%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 10.5% | 13.5% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 13.2% | 17.0% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 16.5% | 20.7% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 20.8% | 24.8% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 25.8% | 29.1% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 31.1% | 33.1% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 35.1% | 36.5% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 37.4% | 39.1% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 38.8% | 41.1% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 39.6% | 42.4% | 16.2% |
Age-standardized WHO estimates. Shaded bands show the 95% uncertainty range.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Children & teens (5–19) with obesity in United States
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 5.3% to 23.3%, and girls from 6.3% to 20.2%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
United States compared (2024)
What this meansHow United States’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- United States41.0%
- Americas (WHO region)34.4%
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in United States
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,971 calories a day in 1961 to 3,947 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- United States
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 16. Puerto Rico42.4%
- 17. Marshall Islands42.0%
- 17. Qatar42.0%
- 19. United States41.0%
- 20. Chile40.5%
- 20. Palau40.5%
- 22. Kuwait40.4%
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