US child, teen obesity rates reach record high while adult trends appear to slow, CDC report finds

U.S. childhood and teen obesity rates have reached record-highs while adult obesity rates may be slowing, according to two new reports published early Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Researchers used measured heights and weights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) -- run by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics -- to track trends over more than six decades.

In the first report, the team found that, in the most recent survey conducted between August 2021 and August 2023, 40.3% of adults aged 20 and older were found to be obese, including 9.7% with severe obesity and another 31.7% classified as overweight...