Obesity prevalence among U.S. adults aged 18 and over 2011-2022
Obesity in the United States
The states with the highest prevalence of obesity are West Virginia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. As of 2022, a shocking 41 percent of the population in West Virginia were obese. The percentage of adults aged 65 years and older who are obese has grown in recent years, compounding health issues that develop with age.
Health impacts of obesity
Obesity is linked to several negative health impacts including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Unsurprisingly, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes has increased in the United States over the years. As of 2022, around 8.4 percent of the population had been diagnosed with diabetes. Some of the most common types of cancers caused by obesity include breast cancer in postmenopausal women, colon and rectum cancer, and corpus and uterus cancer.