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- Obesity to rise by 19 million and affect 126 million American adults by 2035: Study (abcnews.go.com)
Obesity Rates Project to Soar, Impacting Nearly Half of U.S. Adults by 2035
A new study reveals a concerning upward trend in obesity, with projections indicating that nearly 126 million Americans will be affected by 2035, a rise of 19 million people from current estimates.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday, the research highlights that the number of American adults living with obesity has more than doubled over the past three decades, escalating from 34.7 million in 1990 to an estimated 107 million in 2022. This trajectory is expected to continue, with almost half of all U.S. adults potentially meeting the criteria for obesity within the next 12 years.
“Our projections indicate that almost half of US adults will be living with obesity by 2035,” stated Dr. Catherine O. Johnson, lead research scientist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and a co-author of the study.
The comprehensive study analyzed the body mass index of over 11 million Americans across all states, breaking down the data by state, age, sex, and race. Key findings indicate that women are disproportionately affected compared to men, and Southern states exhibit a higher prevalence of obesity.
Adults aged 45 to 64 currently have the highest obesity rates, but a troubling trend reveals that younger women under 35 are experiencing the fastest rise in numbers. Dr. Johnson warns that this shift suggests “this population will also likely experience younger onset of obesity-related health concerns, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
In 2022, Black women showed the highest rates of obesity, followed by Hispanic women. Experts suggest that these disparities among different racial and ethnic groups are driven by multifactorial causes, including socioeconomic factors, access to healthcare, food availability, and opportunities for physical activity.
“Obesity is due to a multifactorial set of causes including, but not limited to, access to healthy food, aspects of the built environment, and physical inactivity,” Johnson explained.
The research underscores that obesity is a nationwide issue, impacting more families each year. “Obesity is currently a major public health threat and that this is likely to continue,” Johnson emphasized. “Public health strategies that deliver real results, as well as increased and equitable access to clinical interventions, are urgently needed to make a difference.”
Clinicians also play a crucial role, according to Johnson, “both in treatment for persons currently living with obesity and in helping patients maintain a healthy weight early in life, starting in childhood.”
The escalating trend in obesity is anticipated to place significant strain on healthcare systems, given its link to various adverse health outcomes. “Estimates are that health care costs associated with obesity were almost 200 billion dollars in 2019 [and] this is only expected to increase,” Johnson noted.
While the study did not primarily focus on GLP-1 weight loss drugs, which have gained considerable popularity recently, prior research has suggested a potential slight downturn in obesity rates in 2024 attributed to these medications.