Obesity prevalence among US adults falls slightly to 40%, remains higher than 10 years ago: CDC
(NEW YORK) — The prevalence of obesity among adults has slightly decreased in the United States but remains higher than 10 years ago, new federal data shows.
Among adults aged 20 and older, about 40.3% were estimated to be obese between August 2021 and August 2023, according to a report released early Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.
This is lower than the 41.9% estimated to be obese between 2017 and 2020 but higher than the 37.7% figure recorded from 2013 to 2014.
Meanwhile, rates of severe obesity increased from 9.2% between 2017 and 2020 to 9.7% between August 2021 and August 2023. Between 2013 and 2014, an estimated 7.7% of adults were severely obese.
This means more than 100 million American adults have obesity, and more than 20 million adults have severe obesity, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an ABC News contributor, said that although the data show a short-term slowdown of obesity rates, the prevalence is still quite high and higher than seen 10 years ago.
“The latest data reveals a persistent challenge with obesity rates holding steady at 40.3% among adults,” he said. “While this does not represent an increase, it is important to recognize that these rates are still alarmingly high — higher than they were a decade ago — underscoring the urgent need for targeted public health strategies.”
The prevalence of severe obesity was higher among women at 12.7% compared to 6.7% for men.
Among age groups, the prevalence of obesity was highest among adults between ages 40 and 59 at 46.4%. By comparison, the prevalence in adults between ages 20 and 39 was 35.5% and among those aged 60 and older was 38.9%. This pattern was seen in both men and women, according to the report.
Severe obesity prevalence was also highest among those aged 40 to 59 at 12% compared to 9.5% for those aged 20 to 29 and 6.6% for those aged 60 and older.
When it came to prevalence by education level, those with a bachelor’s degree or more had the lowest prevalence of obesity at 31.6% between August 2021 and August 2023.
There were no significant differences between men and women in obesity prevalence by education level, the report found.
Adults with obesity are at high risk of other chronic diseases. About 58% of obese adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure and about 23% have diabetes, according to the CDC.
Additionally, obesity can put a strain on the health care system. In 2019, the annual medical costs for adults with obesity were $1,861 higher per person than for adults with healthy weight. For those with severe obesity, excess costs were $3,097 per person, the CDC said.
“While there are some differences across demographics, this work really highlights that obesity is a broad health issue in the U.S. and that men, women, young and old are all affected,” Brownstein said. “Comprehensive approaches are essential to support individuals and communities in achieving healthier lifestyles.”
(NEW YORK) — As two NASA astronauts gear up for a months-long unplanned stay on the International Space Station (ISS), they may also be increasing their risk of radiation exposure.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, who performed the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner, took off on June 5 and were only supposed to be in space for about one week.
However, several problems have arisen with the spacecraft, pushing their return to February 2025 aboard Space X’s Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft.
Space radiation is different from radiation experienced on Earth. It’s made up of three kinds of radiation: particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field, particles from solar flares and galactic cosmic rays, NASA said.
Earth is surrounded by a system of magnetic fields, called the magnetosphere, that protects people from harmful space radiation. However, the higher a person is in altitude, the higher the dose of radiation they are exposed to.
“It’s an order of normal magnitude,” Dr. Stanton Gerson, dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, told ABC News. “As you move [into] the atmosphere, you have increased radiation exposure.”
Due to prolonged exposure, astronauts can be at significant risk for radiation sickness and have a higher lifetime risk of cancer, central nervous system effects and degenerative diseases, according to NASA.
“In low earth orbit where the ISS is, astronauts are at least partially protected by the magnetosphere that protects Earth from the radiation exposure of deep space,” Dr. Rihana Bokhari, acting chief scientific officer at Baylor College of Medicine’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health, told ABC News.
“However, they do have a greater radiation exposure than those on Earth because the ISS passes through areas of trapped radiation in their orbit,” she continued. “Butch and Suni, since they are on the ISS, will not be exposed to enough radiation to seriously cause large impacts on body systems but the long duration exposure to greater radiation than on Earth could lead to an increase in the risk of cancer.”
Crews aboard the ISS receive an average of 80 mSv to 160 mSv during a six-month stay, according to a 2017 NASA report. Millisieverts (mSv) are units of measurement for how much radiation has been absorbed by the body.
Although the type of radiation is different, 1 mSv of space radiation is roughly the same as receiving three chest X-rays, the federal space agency said.
By comparison, a person on Earth receives an average of 2 mSv every year from just background radiation, NASA said.
Gerson said it’s fair to take the NASA estimates and cut them in half. This means for a three-month stay, the astronauts have a cumulative average risk of receiving 40 mSv to 80 mSv.
What’s harder to determine is the episodic risk from factors including solar flares, he said.
“There’s spike risks because there’s episodic waves of solar radiation and deep space ionic radiation that come through the magnetic field, and luckily Earth has a strong magnetic field that blocks a lot of that,” Gerson said. “If you’re on the other side of the moon, you don’t have that.”
Gerson added that NASA has done a good job of checking up on astronauts after they return to Earth as the agency and other researchers have learned more about how radiation affects the body and what signs to look for.
(NEW YORK) — As mosquito season continues, public health officials in the U.S. have been tracking several different illnesses caused by the pesky flying insect.
Health officials are reporting at least eighteen deaths from West Nile virus in the U.S. this year, with three recent deaths recorded in Wisconsin and Illinois. There have been six cases of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), including one person who died after testing positive for the virus, as well as dengue cases recorded in several states. The viruses that cause all three illnesses are transmitted to humans via mosquito bite.
“What we’ve seen is a rapid uptake in certain viruses that haven’t been in the limelight in recent years. Both West Nile virus and ‘triple E,’ which is eastern equine encephalitis, have had an uptick, particularly post-COVID,” Dr. Larry Han, an assistant professor of public health and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, told ABC News.
“There’s also been a rise in dengue relative to what we’ve seen in recent years. And so, these ‘triple threats,’ you might say, have led to more attention and more worry among the general populace.”
Experts who spoke with ABC News said some of the uptick is due to the “randomness” regarding which seasons have a greater number of cases than others, coupled with the general rise in mosquito-borne viruses during the summer and early fall months.
Here are some ways to tell the difference between West Nile, EEE, and dengue. However, if you’re concerned you might have contracted any of these viruses, you should contact your doctor immediately.
How common are West Nile, EEE and dengue?
West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the contiguous United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was first identified in the Western Hemisphere in August 1999 after people were diagnosed in New York City.
Dengue viruses are spread through bites from infected Aedes species mosquitoes, mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, according to the CDC. These mosquitoes are also responsible for spreading Zika and chikungunya viruses.
“It would be very rare to see dengue cases unless you lived in more tropical climates, so you might see this in Florida, some Southern states along the East Coast, but, for example, you would nearly never see this in Massachusetts or in the Midwest or West,” Han said.
Comparatively, EEE is quite rare, with only a few cases reported in the U.S. every year. However, similar to dengue, most cases occur in the Eastern or Gulf Coast states, according to the CDC.
What are the symptoms?
The majority of people with West Nile virus do not present with symptoms, but about one in five will experience fever along with headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, or a rash. Symptoms typically disappear in a week or less for most people but weakness and fatigue may last for weeks or months. For some people, however, the disease can progress to something far more concerning.
“About one out of 150 of those people that develop signs and symptoms can actually develop a more severe disease, like West Nile encephalitis, where we have the swelling of the brain that could potentially be fatal,” Dr. Thomas Duszynski, director of epidemiology education at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, told ABC News.
Similarly, about one in four people who contract dengue develop symptoms lasting two to seven days, but symptoms are usually mild and may include fever, rash, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain and bone pain.
Duszynski explained that most U.S. dengue cases are typically seen among people who contract it while traveling abroad, where dengue is endemic or where cases are more common, and who then bring the virus back to the U.S. Because dengue’s symptoms are not specific to the virus, they’re often confused with other illnesses, according to the CDC.
Most people who are infected with EEE show either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to the CDC. However, severe cases typically present with fever, headache, chills and vomiting.
Like West Nile virus, EEE also can progress to a more severe condition, like encephalitis or meningitis, the latter of which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Many survivors can experience ongoing neurologic problems, including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability. About 30% of encephalitis cases caused by EEE result in death.
“I think the mortality risk if one were to contract dengue or West Nile virus would be very low. For EEE, it’s the opposite; it’s very high,” Han said.
Treatments and vaccines
There are no disease-specific treatments for any of the viruses. The CDC recommends rest, fluids, and over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms. Patients with severe illness often need to be hospitalized and receive additional supportive treatments, such as intravenous fluids.
There also are no vaccines available for West Nile or EEE. However, a dengue vaccine is available in the U.S. and is FDA approved for children between ages 9 and 16 who have a laboratory-confirmed previous dengue virus infection and who live in areas where dengue is endemic.
The vaccine also is available in Puerto Rico and is part of the territory’s routine childhood immunization schedule, the CDC said.
Dengue can be caused by dengue virus strains 1, 2, 3 or 4, with a person being infected multiple times over the course of their life, Duszynski told ABC News, so a vaccine may be able to help prevent infection from a different strain.
“If I got infected with one strain, if I get bit by this mosquito with the same strain, I’m probably going to be okay,’ he said. “But it’s those three other strains that are out there that … I could get infected with even though I had strain 1.”
How to best protect yourself from infection
There are no differences when it comes to protecting yourself from dengue, EEE or West Nile virus, the experts told ABC News. Prevention methods include using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside, and staying in places with air conditioning, when possible. The CDC also recommends emptying containers of still or stagnant water, to eliminate places where mosquitos can breed.
“The single deadliest [animal] to the human species has been the mosquito,” Han said. “So, while we might think of sharks or we might think of lions or tigers, it’s really the mosquito that has led to the devastation of the human population multiple times throughout history.”
“I’m not saying that we should kill off all mosquitoes, because they play an important role in ecology, but there are various new techniques and strategies people are thinking about to combat mosquito-borne viruses and illnesses,” Han continued. “I’m hopeful that we can make mosquito borne viruses less of a threat to humanity.”
(NEW YORK) — People who are in need of weight loss medications but do not have insurance coverage will soon have a new way to access one of the popular medications, Zepbound.
Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, announced Tuesday it will begin selling the weight loss drug directly to consumers through the company’s direct pharmacy, LillyDirect.
With a doctors’ prescription, consumers will be able to purchase Zepbound in vial forms that are about half the price of the auto-injector pre-filled pens sold in pharmacies, according to Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks.
A one-month supply of Zepbound at a 2.5-milligram dose will cost $349, while a one-month supply at a 5-milligram dose will cost $549, according to Ricks.
Medical professionals can start filling prescriptions for the Zepbound vials on Tuesday via LillyDirect and the vials will start shipping in the days ahead.
Ricks noted that the new option will be self-pay only and will not participate in insurance.
With insurance coverage, Zepbound can cost as low as $25 per month, but without coverage, the medication can cost more than $1,000 per month.
Consumers who purchase Zepbound through LillyDirect will have access to educational resources on how to administer the medication, according to Ricks.
Zepbound is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a weight loss management treatment for people with obesity or those who are overweight with at least one related underlying condition such as high blood pressure.
However, many private insurers and Medicare do not cover weight loss drugs used for obesity.
Zepbound contains the same active ingredient, tirzepatide, as another medication, Mounjaro, which is also made by Lilly and is FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Tirzepatide works by helping the pancreas increase the production of insulin to move sugar from the blood into body tissues.
It also slows down the movement of food through the stomach and curbs appetite, thereby causing weight loss.
Past clinical studies have shown users of medications used for weight loss like Zepbound and Mounjaro can lose between 5% and 20% of their body weight on the medications over time.
Medical specialists point out that using medication to lose weight also requires cardio and strength training and changing your diet to one that includes proteins and less processed foods with added sugars.
The most commonly reported side effects of medications used for weight loss are nausea and constipation, but gallbladder and pancreatic disease are also reported.
Makers of these drugs recommend having a conversation about the side effect profile and personalized risks with a health care professional before starting.