On Nov. 14, 2024, an analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Collaborator Network warned of an escalating crisis of overweight and obesity across the U.S., with 213 million adults (over the age of 25) and more than 43 million children and adolescents (aged 5-24 years) expected to have overweight or obesity by 2050, with equally striking health, social, and economic consequences.  

With the prevalence of obesity projected to increase at a more rapid rate than overweight, by 2050, around one in five children, at least one in three adolescents, and two in three adults are expected to have obesity—with the highest levels continuing to be concentrated in southern states. 

Especially high levels of overweight and obesity have already been reached in several U.S. states, with over half (52%) of older adolescent males (aged 15-24 years) in Texas and nearly two-thirds (63%) of older adolescent females in Mississippi living with overweight or obesity in 2021. Similarly, in adults (aged 25 or older), around 80% of men in North Dakota and women in Mississippi were estimated to have overweight or obesity in 2021. The study results were published in The Lancet.