How common is overweight or obesity?

Results from the 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that an estimated 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. This represents an increase of 8 percentage points compared with the estimates from an earlier survey (NHANES III 1988–1994).

Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese. This reflects an increase of 7.6 percentage points since 1994. The data show that 31 percent of adults age 20 and older - nearly 59 million people - have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994.

In addition, the percentage of children who are overweight continues to increase. Among children and teens ages 6 to 19, 15 percent (almost 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999–2000 data, or triple what the proportion was in 1980.

This answer is based on source information from the National Cancer Institute..