New Data: Obesity Grows in Children as It Pauses in Adults

New data from CDC (yes, it’s still there) tells us obesity is still growing steadily in children, while in adults, the growth in prevalence appears to be on pause. But in both children and adults, rates for severe obesity are continuing to grow.

These data, published in JAMA yesterday by Samuel Emmerich and colleagues, come from NHANES and document obesity prevalence trends from 2013 to 2023.

In children aged 2-19, obesity rose steadily from 17% to 21%. For infants, there was no discernable trend. The prevalence in adults rose from 38 in 2013 to 42% in 2020. Then in 2023, it came in at 40%. These numbers for children are entirely new. The leveling out of obesity in adults has been reported previously.

Severe Obesity and Toddlers

Two aspects of this report deserve special attention. First, we note that severe obesity is growing for people of all ages. This matters because severe obesity has more serious consequences for health and quality of life. In adults, it seems that we may have maxed out the prevalence of overweight and obesity at 75% of the population. But people who are susceptible to weight gain are continuing to experience it. Thus the growth in prevalence of severe obesity is noteworthy.

Second, for toddlers two to five years old, the trends for growing obesity prevalence were more pronounced than for other age groups. In this age group overall prevalence of obesity grew from 9% to 15%. Severe obesity doubled – from 1.7% to 3.4%. Considering the health implications of severe obesity at such a young age, this trend is especially troubling.

So this is very much a mixed report. Obesity for adults is peaking. For children, it’s still growing and especially at younger ages. For all of us, the prospect severe obesity affecting more people – especially in youth – has serious implications for population health.

Click here for the report in JAMA and here for another report on it. For further perspective, click here and here.

Young Peasant Woman with Three Children at the Window, painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller / WikiArt

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February 14, 2025