Summary
A new Lancet study reveals nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, a sharp rise from just over half in 1990.
Obesity among adults doubled to over 40%, while rates among girls and women aged 15–24 nearly tripled to 29%.
The study highlights significant health risks, including diabetes, heart disease, and shortened life expectancy, alongside projected medical costs of up to $9.1 trillion over the next decade.
Experts stress obesity’s complex causes—genetic, environmental, and social—and call for structural reforms like food subsidies, taxes on sugary drinks, and expanded treatment access.
Don’t worry congress is going to make Obese 50% body fat in response to the crisis…
Can confirm. 3/4 of my body is fat while the rest of it is skinny AF.
In 1990 half were overweight or obese? That’s the real news, I would have thought much lower.
Why is that the news? Using NHANES data for standardized numbers, in 1990 it was roughly 44% of Americans. That’s lower than 1980 (~47%), 1970 (~48%), and 1960 (~46%). Did you think Americans were unusually thin in 1990 or something?
The 1990s are actually when the numbers jump. By 2000, it’s 65%. 2010, it’s 68%. And in 2020 to the most recent yearly data (2023), its 74%.
People were thinner in the 1930s. We should figure out what their secret was and copy it.
Private prisons stock has increased, so it looks like its part of the plan.
They still give processed foods like crisps and cookies, but the calorie intake provided is too low to support an obese diet. And cholera spreading through overcrowded, for-profit prisons should also encourage rapid weight loss.
We live at a time of artificial plenty and everyone’s stressed. It literally doesn’t have to be a bad thing, either. We don’t judge people who take on prestigious corporate jobs that will by nature make them more stressed and worn down. They get money, 75% of us get to eat tasty food and treats.
We don’t care about the fat fux
I mean, do you feel bad if someone is overweight and complains about their bad knees? Yes, obviousy
And I care that there’s a country full of very unhealthy people who will die unnecessarily early deaths because they have been raised to eat processed food and have been addicted to sugar since they were babies.
