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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Overweight and Obesity

Goal: Reduce overweight and obesity by helping people eat healthy and get physical activity.

Six people use small weights in an exercise class.

About 2 in 5 adults and 1 in 5 children and adolescents in the United States have obesity,1 and many others are overweight. Healthy People 2030 focuses on helping people eat healthy and get enough physical activity to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Obesity is linked to many serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.2 Some racial/ethnic groups are more likely to have obesity, which increases their risk of chronic diseases.3

Culturally appropriate programs and policies that help people eat nutritious foods within their calorie needs can reduce overweight and obesity. Public health interventions that make it easier for people to be more physically active can also help them maintain a healthy weight.

Objective Status

  • 0 Target met or exceeded
  • 0 Improving
  • 4 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 0 Baseline only
  • 1 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Overweight and Obesity — General

Reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with obesity — NWS‑04
LHI label
Little or no detectable change

Diabetes

Reduce the proportion of adults who don't know they have prediabetes — D‑02
Little or no detectable change
Increase the proportion of eligible people completing CDC-recognized type 2 diabetes prevention programs — D‑D01
Developmental

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Increase the proportion of health care visits by adults with obesity that include counseling on weight loss, nutrition, or physical activity — NWS‑05
Little or no detectable change
Reduce consumption of added sugars by people aged 2 years and over — NWS‑10
LHI label
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of adults with obesity — NWS‑03
Getting worse

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Increase the proportion of women who had a healthy weight before pregnancy — MICH‑13
Getting worse

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References

1.

Hales, C.M., Carroll, M.D., Fryar, C.D., & Ogden, C.L. (2017) Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults and Youth: United States, 2015-2016. National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf [PDF - 603 KB]

2.

Lauby-Secretan B., et al. (2016). Body Fatness and Cancer — Viewpoint of the IARC Working Group. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(8), 794–798. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr1606602

3.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/managing-overweight-obesity-in-adults [PDF - 6 MB]