For the first time in over a decade, American adults made strides to become healthier in 2023, as the obesity rates have fallen, according to a new study.
The study, published in JAMA Health Forum, highlighted that obesity nationwide has dropped from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023.
The researchers also found that obesity has declined substantially in the South, including among older adults ages 66 to 75.
The study’s lead author, computational epidemiologist Benjamin Rader, spoke with NBC News about his research, sharing that several regions and demographics saw bigger decreases than others.
“In the U.S overall, obesity was on the decline, led by the South, but in some regions that wasn’t the case,” Rader said. “We also saw large drops among Black Americans, but we saw increases in obesity among Asian Americans.”
The study examined data from 16.7 million adults from 2013 to 2023 and looked at different age groups, races, sexes, ethnicities, and regions. The main data they looked at was body mass index figures that were observed from people’s health records.
Experts have criticized the BMI rating, saying it isn’t the ideal measurement for chronicling variations in body structures, but is still seen as the best-available measurement to examine body fat on a population level scale.
The study is not the first to find positive trends in obesity, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study in September that found obesity in the US was not growing.
That report found that approximately 40.3% of adults were obese, a slight decrease from what was observed over the last three years.