Weight loss statistics at a glance
Weight loss is often discussed as an individual goal, but the numbers show a much wider pattern: obesity rates remain high, many adults try to lose weight, and the tools people choose range from exercise and diet changes to medication and surgery.
This article organizes the most relevant weight loss statistics into one place, using the matched source dataset only. Where the data compares groups, the pattern is more useful than any single number: prevalence varies sharply by place, most adults who try to lose weight use multiple methods, and treatment choices differ depending on age, weight status, and access.
Table of contents
- The big picture
- U.S. obesity by state
- How many adults try to lose weight
- What methods people use
- Global weight and obesity trends
- Medication, surgery, and cost context
- What the statistics suggest
The big picture
The strongest signal in the dataset is that weight loss sits inside a larger obesity trend rather than existing as a separate issue.
- In August 2021-August 2023, 40.3% of U.S. adults age 20 and older had obesity and 9.7% had severe obesity (CDC Health E-Stat 111).
- In August 2021-August 2023, the unadjusted U.S. adult obesity prevalence was 40.3%, severe obesity was 9.4%, and overweight was 32.1% (CDC Health E-Stat 111).
- In 2024, CDC reported obesity prevalence was 39.8% among adults age 20 to 39, 44.3% among adults age 40 to 59, and 41.5% among adults age 60 and older (CDC Adult Obesity Facts).
Those three figures point to a simple interpretation: weight loss demand is large because excess weight remains common across age groups, and the burden is not limited to one life stage.
Stat callout: in the CDC data, obesity is not a niche issue. It affects roughly 2 in 5 U.S. adults across the most recent national measurements (CDC Health E-Stat 111; CDC Adult Obesity Facts).
Another important angle is severity. The dataset separates obesity from severe obesity, which matters because treatment intensity, health risk, and expected time horizon are not the same. A person trying to lose 10 or 20 pounds is facing a different problem than someone managing severe obesity, and the national numbers reflect that range (CDC Health E-Stat 111).
U.S. obesity by state
State-level prevalence shows that weight-related risk is unevenly distributed. The highest values in the dataset are in the South and parts of the Midwest, while several Western and Northeastern places sit lower.
| Place | Adult obesity prevalence in 2023 |
|---|---|
| West Virginia | 41.2% |
| Mississippi | 40.1% |
| Arkansas | 40.0% |
| Louisiana | 39.9% |
| Alabama | 39.2% |
| Oklahoma | 38.7% |
| Indiana | 37.8% |
| Iowa | 37.8% |
| Tennessee | 37.6% |
| Nebraska | 36.6% |
| Ohio | 36.4% |
| Illinois | 36.0% |
| South Carolina | 36.0% |
| South Dakota | 36.0% |
| Puerto Rico | 36.0% |
At the lower end of the same source set, the gap is also substantial:
| Place | Adult obesity prevalence in 2023 |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 23.5% |
| Colorado | 24.9% |
| Hawaii | 26.1% |
| Massachusetts | 27.4% |
| California | 27.7% |
| New York | 28.0% |
| Vermont | 28.8% |
| New Jersey | 28.9% |
| Connecticut | 29.4% |
| Florida | 30.1% |
| Utah | 30.2% |
| Montana | 30.5% |
| Washington | 30.6% |
| Nevada | 30.8% |
| Idaho | 31.0% |
The spread matters because it shows why broad national averages can hide local needs. A state around 23.5% is facing a very different baseline from a state above 40% (CDC 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Map).
A few other useful state-level observations stand out:
- In 2023, no state or territory had an adult obesity prevalence below 20% (CDC 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Map).
- In 2023, Guam had a 35.4% adult obesity prevalence and the U.S. Virgin Islands had a 32.1% prevalence (CDC 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Map).
- In 2023, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont were all below 30% (CDC 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Map).
That last point is useful because it shows the lower-prevalence cluster is real, but it is still not low in an absolute sense. Even the better-performing places are usually in the high-20% range, not near single digits.
How many adults try to lose weight
The dataset also gives a direct picture of behavior, not just body composition.
- In 2013-2016, 49.1% of U.S. adults said they tried to lose weight in the last 12 months (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 56.4% of women and 41.7% of men tried to lose weight (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 52.4% of adults age 40-59 tried to lose weight versus 42.7% of adults age 60 and older (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 53.7% of adults with higher family income tried to lose weight versus 42.9% of adults with lower family income (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 66.7% of adults with obesity tried to lose weight, compared with 49.0% of overweight adults and 26.5% of normal-weight or underweight adults (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
This is one of the clearest results in the whole dataset. Weight-loss attempts are not evenly distributed across the population. They rise sharply with higher body weight status, and they are more common among women than men in the source data (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
That difference by weight status is especially important. It suggests that weight loss is not just a general wellness behavior; for many people it is a direct response to current body weight and likely to medical advice, health concern, or both.
Fast read on the behavior data
- Nearly half of U.S. adults reported trying to lose weight in the prior 12 months (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- Women reported attempts at a noticeably higher rate than men (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- People with obesity were the most likely to report trying to lose weight, and their rate was far higher than the rate among normal-weight or underweight adults (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
What methods people use
The dataset does not just say that people try to lose weight. It also shows how they try.
- In 2013-2016, the most common weight-loss methods were exercising at 62.9% and eating less food at 62.9% (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 50.4% of adults who tried to lose weight reported eating more fruits, vegetables, and salads (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 44.7% reported drinking a lot of water as a weight-loss method (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 42.4% reported eating less junk food or fast food as a weight-loss method (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
- In 2013-2016, 88.3% of adults who tried to lose weight used two or more methods (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
The headline here is combination behavior. A single tactic is not the norm. Most adults who tried to lose weight used at least two methods, which suggests people are rarely relying on just one behavior change (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
Comparison table: common methods among adults trying to lose weight
| Method | Share of adults who tried to lose weight |
|---|---|
| Exercise | 62.9% |
| Eating less food | 62.9% |
| Eating more fruits, vegetables, and salads | 50.4% |
| Drinking a lot of water | 44.7% |
| Eating less junk food or fast food | 42.4% |
| Two or more methods | 88.3% |
This table shows why weight loss advice tends to be multi-layered. The behavior data already looks multi-layered. Exercise and calorie reduction are tied at the top, but diet composition, hydration, and fast-food reduction are all part of the same effort for large shares of adults (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
A practical interpretation is that weight loss is usually approached as a bundle of changes rather than a single action. The statistics support that pattern directly.
Global weight and obesity trends
The U.S. data is only part of the story. The global numbers show that the issue is large enough to shape health systems worldwide.
- Globally in 2022, 2.5 billion adults age 18 and older were overweight (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- Globally in 2022, more than 890 million adults were living with obesity (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- In 2022, about one in eight people worldwide was living with obesity (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- In 2024, 35 million children under age 5 were overweight (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- In 2021, higher-than-optimal BMI caused an estimated 3.7 million NCD deaths worldwide (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- Global obesity prevalence more than doubled between 1990 and 2022 (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
- Since 1990, obesity among adults has more than doubled and obesity among children and adolescents ages 5 to 19 has quadrupled (WHO March 2024 obesity news release).
Those numbers matter because they show a long-run directional change, not a temporary spike. The fact that obesity has more than doubled since 1990 while childhood and adolescent obesity has quadrupled means future weight-loss demand is being shaped early, not only in adulthood (WHO March 2024 obesity news release).
The global data also makes one issue especially clear: weight loss is not only about appearance or short-term dieting. The WHO source ties higher-than-optimal BMI to millions of NCD deaths, which places body weight inside a broader chronic disease context (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet).
Medication, surgery, and cost context
The dataset includes newer treatment pathways that have become central in weight-loss discussions.
- In May 2024, about one in eight U.S. adults (12%) said they had ever taken a GLP-1 agonist (KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024).
- In May 2024, 6% of U.S. adults said they were currently taking a GLP-1 agonist (KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024).
- Among U.S. adults age 65 and older in the KFF poll, 8% had ever taken a GLP-1 medication for a chronic condition and 1% had taken one only to lose weight (KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024).
- In 2024, the CDC reported that in adults age 20 and older, annual medical costs for people with obesity were $1,861 higher per person than for adults with healthy weight (CDC Adult Obesity Facts).
- In 2025, ASMBS said more than 270,000 bariatric procedures were performed in 2023 (ASMBS 2025 Fact Sheet).
- In 2025, ASMBS estimated the risk of major complications from bariatric surgery at about 4% (ASMBS 2025 Fact Sheet).
- In 2025, ASMBS estimated bariatric surgery mortality risk at about 0.1% (ASMBS 2025 Fact Sheet).
- ASMBS said fewer than 1% of people eligible for metabolic and bariatric surgery receive it in any given year (ASMBS 2026 release).
These figures are important because they show the current treatment mix. Some adults are trying diet and exercise alone, some are using GLP-1 medication, and some are using surgery. The data suggests no single treatment dominates the whole field.
The surgical numbers are especially revealing. More than 270,000 procedures in one year is a large absolute volume, but fewer than 1% of eligible people receiving surgery in any given year means access is still limited relative to need (ASMBS 2025 Fact Sheet; ASMBS 2026 release).
What the treatment numbers imply
- Weight loss is now linked to medication use in a meaningful share of adults, not a tiny fringe (KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024).
- Surgery is effective enough to be widely discussed, but the eligible-population penetration remains very low (ASMBS 2026 release).
- Obesity carries a measurable cost burden per person, which helps explain why employers, insurers, and health systems pay attention to it (CDC Adult Obesity Facts).
What the statistics suggest
Taken together, the dataset points to four broad takeaways.
First, weight loss demand is structurally large because obesity remains common at the national level and above 20% in every state and territory in the source data (CDC 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Map; CDC Health E-Stat 111).
Second, people who try to lose weight usually do not rely on one method. Exercise, eating less food, and diet quality changes often appear together, and nearly 9 in 10 adults who tried to lose weight used two or more methods (CDC NCHS Data Brief 313).
Third, treatment access is uneven. GLP-1 use has become visible, bariatric surgery remains a serious option, and both are part of a larger system where high need does not automatically mean high uptake (KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024; ASMBS 2026 release).
Fourth, the issue is not limited to the U.S. The global obesity and overweight numbers show a long-term upward trend, with consequences that extend into chronic disease and public health planning (WHO obesity and overweight fact sheet; WHO March 2024 obesity news release).
For readers comparing the data across places, age groups, and treatment types, the simplest summary is this: weight loss statistics do not tell one story. They tell a connected set of stories about prevalence, behavior, treatment, and cost, all moving at the same time.