Excess Pounds Weigh Heavily: U.S. Kids and Adults Face the Issue, Study Shows

The average U.S. male adult teetered on the verge of being obese. And the average U.S. female adult tipped the scale into obesity. Meanwhile, as children entered their teens, their average weight classification started creeping up as well.

That’s according to a just-released study from the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that looked at body composition starting at age 2 between August 2021 and August 2023.

The average adult male 20 and older was a smidge under 5-foot-9 and weighed 199 pounds, which provided a body mass index of 29.4. The average adult female was 5-foot-3 1/2 and weighed 171.8 pounds, with a BMI of 30, which is considered obese.

A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is deemed within normal weight range for adults, while 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight.

The numbers are based on body composition data from 8,545 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants age 2 and older, collected and analyzed between August 2021 and August 2023 by the National Center for Health Statistics for a vital statistics report.

The report looked at measured weight, height, body mass index, circumferences and lengths of waist and limbs stratified by age, adjusting findings to be nationally representative. Researchers measured children starting at age 2 in two-year intervals, so 2- and 3-year-olds, for instance, were averaged together. In the past, they did a larger sample and reported on each age. Adults were looked at starting at age 20 by decades, so a block could be ages 20-29 or 50-59. The final group included those who were age 80 and older.

Per the report, “Anthropometry, the science of measuring human body dimensions, serves as a key indicator of nutritional status, overall health, dietary sufficiency and growth patterns.”

The research did not include data on weight, BMI or circumference for pregnant women.

Excess weight and health risks

A different brief the center released last September focused on weight trends, which was reported on by Deseret News , estimated that 4 in 10 U.S. adults have obesity, which increases the risk of chronic health problems including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and some cancers. That report showed 9.4% of adults have “severe obesity,” which is a bit more common in women, compared to men.

Both reports found obesity is more common among people ages 40 to 59 than among groups that are either younger or older. The earlier report said obesity was more common among those who didn’t have a college degree, compared to those who did.

To calculate BMI, one’s weight in kilograms is divided by height in meters squared, then rounded to a single decimal place: 30 is considered obese. Above 40, one has severe obesity based on BMI.

Body mass index has limitations, however, as the vital statistics experts have noted, because it is used to suggest how much body fat one has, which can differ depending on many factors, including age, sex, race and Hispanic origin. The number doesn’t actually measure body fat or how it’s distributed, which makes a difference to the risks associated with high BMI, including both heart disease and metabolic disease. It is, rather, an easy, inexpensive screening tool that the new report says works better at a population level than for individuals. For individuals, those other factors should be considered.

A common measurement under fire

While BMI is often used to identify whether someone has too much weight or obesity, it’s a measurement that has come under some fire. The American Medical Association recommends that BMI be used alongside other indicators, including “visceral fat, body adiposity index, body composition, relative fat mass, waist circumference and genetic or metabolic factors,” as Deseret News earlier reported.

“An alternative measure, called the body roundness index, has been proposed. That measure includes height and waist circumference. There are online BRI calculators where you enter your height and waist and hip measurements. The formula is a bit frightening for casual do-it-yourselfers: 364.2−365.5×√(1−{[waist circumference in centimeters/2π]/[0.5×height in centimeters]} squared), according to a study in JAMA Network Open ," per the earlier article.

That has critics, too, who claim the body roundness index favors a specific body type.

Kids at an unhealthy weight

Calculations of whether a child is overweight are different. At age 2 and above, a child’s body mass index is compared to growth charts the CDC has produced and is based on how that child compares to children who are the same age as a whole. A BMI above the 85th percentile but below the 95th indicates the child is overweight. Above the 95th percentile, the child is considered to have obesity.

Between the 5th and 85th percentile is considered in the normal weight range for children.

Nemours Kids Health has a BMI calculator for kids that includes a child’s weight and height, birthdate and sex.

The new vital statistics report is harder to decipher in terms of whether children on average are overweight or not, because each category includes two years and children change a lot in that period of time. But it’s clear that by the time children cross into adulthood, they are, on average, tipping into the overweight category. The share who have obesity does increase with age.

In 2024, the CDC reported that 1 in 5 children — just shy of 15 million — are overweight or have obesity, with health ramifications that can last years. The public health agency noted that it’s more common among adolescents, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black children and those in lower-income households.

That report said that 1 in 8 children ages 2 to 5 have obesity, while just over 1 in 5 of those ages 6 to 11 do. Among adolescents, 22% have obesity. Those numbers do not include children who are overweight but do not have obesity.

Per the CDC, medical costs for children who have obesity are higher than for those who fall into a normal weight range.

A brief from Brigham Young University said that in the 1970s, only 5% of children had childhood obesity.

Among potential health problems that can arise from having childhood obesity are type 2 diabetes, mental health concerns and asthma. Further, as many as 70% of children who have obesity when they are young will struggle with obesity when they are older, with the health complications that can bring.

The BYU brief noted that lifestyle factors like physical activity or inactivity levels, nutrition and genetics can all play a role in whether a child tends toward a healthy weight.