America has the highest obesity rates in the world. One-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese.
In 2009–2010, over 78 million U.S. adults and about 12.5 million U.S. children and adolescents were obese. Almost 41 million women and more than 37 million men aged 20 and over were obese in 2009–2010 (Figure 3). Among children and adolescents aged 2–19, more than 5 million girls and approximately 7 million boys were obese.
Number of obese individuals: United States, 2009–2010
Source: CDC/NCHS