Is the US seeing a turning point in obesity rates?
Recent data suggests a potential turning point in US obesity rates, with studies showing a slight decline between 2021 and 2023. Experts suggest that the rapid increase in the use of GLP-1 agonist weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may be contributing to this trend.
Why it matters
This could mark a significant shift in public health outcomes for the US, which has struggled with rising obesity for decades.
D Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle The United States has been grappling with an obesity epidemic since the late 1970s, but there is growing evidence that the constantly climbing obesity rates are beginning to drop.
"We're seeing signs that there's going to be a turning point," said Benjamin Rader, an epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and at Harvard Medical School who conducts research into health trends using large datasets. In 2024, he and his colleagues published a study based on data from more than 16 million adults, which suggested there had been a decline in obesity prevalence in 2023 — for the first time in more than 10 years.
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