The obesity rate in the United States was indeed higher in 2022 compared to 2023. In 2022, 22 states had an adult obesity prevalence at or above 35%, whereas in 2023, this number decreased to 23 states. This slight reduction suggests some progress, but the overall obesity rate remains high.
NEW: we may have passed peak obesity 🎉📈📉🙏
In what might be one of the most significant trends I have ever charted, the US obesity rate fell last year. pic.twitter.com/RttePO0EJQ
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) October 4, 2024
While we can’t be certain that the new generation of drugs are behind this reversal, it is highly likely.
For one, the decline in obesity is steepest among college graduates, the group using them at the highest rate. pic.twitter.com/UbTpEOeCPm
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) October 4, 2024
If the decline is due to the drugs, it would be an amazing step.
Smoking rates fell only via decades of campaigning, public health warnings, tax incentives and bans.
With obesity, a single pharmaceutical innovation has succeeded where those same methods have repeatedly failed.
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) October 4, 2024
We’re surrounded by tantalising tastes, our bodies try hard to maintain our current weight even when we manage to cut back, and maintaining a large enough calorie deficit over the sort of timescale required to shift serious weight is incredibly hard.
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) October 4, 2024
This will probably prove another case of “where the US leads, others will follow”.
In Denmark, home of Ozempic and Wegovy creator Novo Nordisk, 4% of adults are using the drugs, and a decades-long climb in obesity has slowed to a crawl, with declines among several age groups. pic.twitter.com/jd2uy9BmFx
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) October 4, 2024
www.cdc.gov/obesity/php/data-research/adult-obesity-prevalence-maps.html
www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0912-adult-obesity.html
www.healthline.com/health/obesity-facts