Obesity rate in U.S. drops for first time in 10 years; weight loss drugs also hope to be effective

For the first time in more than a decade, obesity rates in the United States may finally be heading in the right direction, and new weight loss drugs like semaglutide may be part of the reason.

A new study published Friday in the journal JAMA Health Forum found that obesity rates decreased slightly, from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023. Although a small decline, this is the first recorded decline in at least a decade.

“What we're seeing for the first time is that the curve is bending, a sign of hope in what has been a real threat to American public health for years,” said study co-author and ABC News contributor John Brownstein. It means that you can see it,” he said. He is the Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

The study looked at body mass index (BMI), a measure of obesity, in 16.7 million U.S. adults over a 10-year period. The average BMI rose each year to 30.24 (considered obese) before hitting a plateau in 2022, but fell slightly to 30.21 in 2023.

Brownstein and his team noted that women and adults between the ages of 66 and 75 saw the greatest decline in obesity. People living in the South, where dispensing rates of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists were highest, also saw significant reductions in obesity.

Semaglutide belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists and is the active ingredient in the popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that the use of these drugs, especially for weight loss, increased 700% in the United States from 2019 to 2023. It is also used to treat type 2 diabetes, or a combination of diabetes and obesity.

Brownstein said the increased use of these drugs may be helping reverse obesity trends.

However, he added that other factors may be at play.

For example, data on pharmacy prescriptions found that the South had the highest rate of dispensing weight loss drugs, but also found that obese people in this region had a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 deaths. .

The authors suggested lifestyle changes as people emerge from pandemic isolation may also be playing a role.

Benjamin Rader, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said, “As a result of COVID-19, people are potentially starting to become more active again, and they may be able to shift away from the sedentary habits they developed during the pandemic.'' I'm quitting,” he said. . “There are all these forces at play, and I don't think we can tease them out from this data.”

And while the findings are encouraging, experts caution that it's too early to tell whether this trend of shrinking waistlines will continue.

“I think we need to look at this as a positive indicator in certain databases. It could mean that people are getting better and that including treatment will help, but if that's the case over time. We need to see how it changes over time,” said Dr. Ann Peters. a professor at the Keck School of Medicine told ABC News.

Obesity remains a significant public health problem.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 60% of obese American adults have high blood pressure and about 23% have diabetes. Obese people also have an increased risk of heart disease, liver disease, and other chronic diseases.

However, Peters pointed out that BMI is just one measure of overall health. A person's weight must be considered in conjunction with other risk factors to get a complete picture of an individual's overall health and risk of chronic disease.

“You need to combine weight loss with exercise and a healthier diet,” Peters recommended. “I think we need to fundamentally change the way people eat. That would be much better than just losing weight.”

Dr. Niki Iranpour is an internal medicine resident at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.