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- Access to affordable, quality health care
- Distribution of community resources
- Access to education
- Poverty
- Higher cost of healthy food

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- Limited access to green space, parks
- Impoverished neighborhoods
- More fast food options
- Lack of transportation
- Food deserts
- Housing insecurity
- Food insecurity

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- Lack of access to healthy food
- Low income
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
- Minority stress
- Family/peer behaviors
- Unemployment

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- Genetic differences
- Chronic disease
- Epigenetic changes

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- Increased stress levels
- Poor diet
- Lack of physical activity
- Lack of nutrition education
- Disordered eating patterns

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I spoke with Angie Graf, Executive Director of Hope Southern Indiana, a faith-based nonprofit food pantry to discuss her program and the populations it serves.

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Implications of Not Addressing the Issue

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Implications of Not Addressing the Issue

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- Increased risk for Cardiovascular Disease
- Increased risk for Type 2 Diabetes
- Increased risk of stroke
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Pain/mobility issues
- Sleep apnea/breathing issues

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Chatting with Caitlyn, a clinical social worker who works with low-income schools and has past experience in homeless outreach.

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Talking with Serena, a social worker, from the AMEN House, a food pantry in Georgetown, KY.

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Our population of interest is low-income adults.

"Obesity prevalence was lower among adults

with family income of more than 350%

FPL (39.0%) compared with those

with family income more than 130%

through 350% FPL (46.5%)."

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National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-March 2020 Prepandemic Data Files Development of Files and Prevalence Estimates for Selected Health Outcomes

Note: Javascript is disabled or is not supported by your browser. For this reason, some items on this page will be unavailable. For more information about this message, please visit this page: About CDC.gov

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National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-March 2020 Prepandemic Data Files Development of Files and Prevalence Estimates for Selected Health Outcomes

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The health outcome of interest is obesity rates* among adults in the United States.

"The US obesity prevalence was 41.9% in 2017 through March 2020" (NHANES 2021)

*Obesity is defined by the CDC as having a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Obesity Prevalence Maps
Adult obesity prevalence by state and territory using self-reported information from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Obesity is a common, serious, and costly disease

The US obesity prevalence was 41.9% in 2017 - March 2020. (NHANES, 2021)

From 1999 -2000 through 2017 -March 2020, US obesity prevalence increased from 30.5% to 41.9%. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. (NHANES, 2021)

Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. These are among the leading causes of preventable, premature death.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was nearly $173 billion in 2019 dollars. Medical costs for adults who had obesity were $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight.

Obesity affects some groups more than others

[ Read CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data brief]

Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.9%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (45.6%), non-Hispanic White adults (41.4%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (16.1%).

The obesity prevalence was 39.8% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.3% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 41.5% among adults aged 60 and older.

Obesity and socioeconomic status

[ Read the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)]

The association between obesity and income or educational level is complex and differs by sex and race/ethnicity.

Overall, men and women with college degrees had lower obesity prevalence compared with those with less education.

The same obesity and education pattern occurred among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic women, and non-Hispanic White men. However, the differences were not all statistically significant. Although the difference was not statistically significant among non-Hispanic Black men, obesity prevalence increased with educational attainment. No differences in obesity prevalence by education level were noted among non-Hispanic Asian women and men and Hispanic men.

Among men, obesity prevalence was lower in the lowest and highest income groups compared with the middle-income group. Researchers observed this pattern among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic men. Obesity prevalence was higher in the highest income group than in the lowest income group among non-Hispanic Black men.

Connect with Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity

Page last reviewed:

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Obesity is a Common, Serious, and Costly Disease

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Facts about obesity among US adults, including data by racial and ethnic group and socioeconomic status.