US obesity rates fall for first time in over a decade: study

In a groundbreaking recent study, researchers found that the obesity rate among adults in the United States has observed a declined for the first time in over a decade.

The study, which was recently published in the journal JAMA Health Forum, noted that the obesity rate fell from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023, with significant declines observed in the southern states in the US, The Hill reported.

Additionally, the study found that this decline was particularly observed among older women aged 66 to 75.

“In the US overall, obesity was on the decline, led by the South, but in some regions that weren’t the case,” computational epidemiologist Benjamin Rader, who is also the study’s author, told NBC News.

“We also saw large drops among Black Americans, but we saw increases in obesity among Asian Americans,” he added.

The research, which analysed the health records from over 16.7 million adults between 2013 and 2023, included a diverse range of participants across various ages, races, and regions.

The authors examined the body mass index (BMI) figures that were observed from people’s health records.

Experts have said previously that although BMI is not an ideal measurement for chronicling variations in body structures, it is still the best-correlated figure for examining body fat on a population-level scale.

Furthermore, the study’s findings come months after a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that was released in late September found that obesity in the US was not growing.

The report said that approximately 40.3% of adults were obese, a slight downturn compared to the previous three years.

A new research study, that was released in mid-November, found that almost three-quarters of Americans are considered obese or overweight, with greater spikes among those between the ages 5 to 24.