--- title: America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down description: While numbers are more stable than they were in the past when rates were steadily increasing, they haven't gone done in recent years either canonical: https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T05:01:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:31:59.402Z article:section: Health og:title: America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down og:description: While numbers are more stable than they were in the past when rates were steadily increasing, they haven't gone done in recent years either og:url: https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911a2d714bb15214/6987789d55a85942a4a85200/health-weight-scale-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Scale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down twitter:description: While numbers are more stable than they were in the past when rates were steadily increasing, they haven't gone done in recent years either twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911a2d714bb15214/6987789d55a85942a4a85200/health-weight-scale-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 12, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 12, 2015 5:01 AM UTC It’s not news that America has a high obesity rate. Now, federal data show that while numbers are more stable than they were in the past—when rates had been steadily increasing—they haven’t gone down in recent years, either. New survey data from the National Center for Health Statistics released on Thursday show that in 2011-2014, 36.5% of adults and 17% of young people ages 2 to 19 were obese. Overall, the prevalence was higher among women compared to men and higher among Hispanic and black adults compared to other racial groups. The authors note that from 1999 to 2014, obesity has increased overall among adults and youth, but in recent years, the rate for young people ages 2 to 19 has been stable. Still, federal data has not yet shown declining obesity rates among adults or youth. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/"},"headline":"America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down","datePublished":"2015-11-12T05:01:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:31:59.402Z","description":"Obesity rates among people between ages 2 to 19 have stabilized but haven't gone down","url":"https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/","keywords":["Obesity","diet","fat","Youth","childhood obesity","obese"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911a2d714bb15214/6987789d55a85942a4a85200/health-weight-scale-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911a2d714bb15214/6987789d55a85942a4a85200/health-weight-scale-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Scale","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Scale","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obesity/","name":"Obesity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4109142/american-obesity-rate/","name":"America's High Obesity Rates Aren't Going Down"}}]}] ```