TFAH Report Finds 21 States at or Above 35% Obesity Rate
Trust for America's Health's annual State of Obesity report, released Sept. 24, finds adult obesity rates largely unchanged in 2025, with 21 states at or above 35%, up from 19 in 2024. For the first time since 2020, no state reached 40%, and Alabama led at 39.7% while the District of Columbia had the lowest rate at 24.2%. Louisiana and West Virginia posted the only statistically significant declines from 2024. TFAH warns the stabilization is fragile, citing more than 200 staff reductions at the CDC's chronic disease center, a proposed fiscal 2027 budget eliminating its obesity prevention division, and an estimated 5 million people losing SNAP access, alongside growing GLP-1 use including roughly 700,000 new Medicare patients since the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge launched in July.