More than 75% of US Adults are Obese

Name: More than 75% of US Adults are Obese
Creator: Austin Whittall
Published: 01/01/2026 11:11:00

New criteria to define obesity

By Austin Whittall | Updated 01.January.2026.

Fact Checked

All the content published in our website is fact checked to validate its accuracy.
Visit our guidelines web page to learn more about our strict processes regarding how we review our content's sources: reliable and reputable journals, media websites, universities, colleges, organizations, and professionals.
Our articles are based on scientific evidence, and the references are included in their footnotes, which are clickable links to sound scientific papers.

First published: January 01, 2026

Summary: New criteria show 3 out of 4 American Adults are obese

A study by Al-Roub N.M., Malik D., Essa M., et al. ( Body Mass Index and Anthropometric Criteria to Assess Obesity), published on December 29, 2025, analyzed data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that, while using the Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria, around 40% of American adults was obese, the new criteria suggested in January 2025 by the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission increased the number of obese U.S. adults to over 75%. (1)

woman measures waistline — Waistline can help define if you are obese

The Study on Obesity

Researchers from different Medical Centers and Colleges (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Yale University, and Yale New Haven Health) published a paper on December 29, 2025 reporting that over 75% of American adults meet new criteria for obesity, the previous standard that used BMI (Body Mass Index) recorded a lower figure, with only 40% of adults classed as obese.

This means that using the BMI criteria significantly underestimates how many U.S. adults are obese.

Earlier in 2025, the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission proposed a better tool to define obesity, one that includes different metrics such as waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio.(2)

More than 70 medical organizations around the world have endorsed this definition, but many still employ the BMI criteria.

This study estimated obesity in the U.S. using the new criteria by using data from 14,144 participants in the 2017-2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), it included not only BMI, but also waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).

Findings

75.2% of the participants were obese.
Among people who the BMI criteria classifies as overweight, 80.4% were obese.
Among those with a BMI lower than 25, which is considered normal, 38.5% were obese.

These frequencies were similar for both men, and women, and higher in Hispanics. The frequencies increased with age, and "nearly all adults aged 50 years or older were classified as having obesity."

Obesity is the New Pandemic

A correct evaluation using not only BMI, but also waist and hip circumference are essential to correctly diagnose obesity. Many people considered normal or overweight are, in fact obese under the new criteria.

References and Further Reading

(1) Al-Roub NM, Malik D, Essa M, et al. (2025). Body Mass Index and Anthropometric Criteria to Assess Obesity. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(12):e2549124. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.49124

(2) Rubino, Francesco et al. (2025). Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Volume 13, Issue 3, 221-262