What Percentage of Americans are Overweight?

One-third of Americans are obese, and another one-third are overweight. Out of the 33 countries with the most developed economies, the U.S. has by far the highest incidence of obesity and is one of the countries with the fastest-growing rate of obesity. If obesity levels continue to increase at the same rate in the U.S., by 2020, about three-fourths of the population will be obese.

More about obesity:

• Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, and at least 300 million of them are obese.


• The countries with the lowest incidence of obesity are Japan and South Korea, both of which have an obesity rate of less than 5%. Other countries with high obesity rates include Mexico, the United Kingdom and Slovakia, each of which has an obesity rate of about 25%.


• The U.S. state with the highest obesity rate is Mississippi, and the state with the lowest obesity rate is Colorado. In fact, Colorado is the only state in the U.S. with an obesity rate of less than 20%.