Approximately 78 million adults above age 20 (37.5 million men and 40.6 million women) and 12.5 million children and adolescents (5.5 million boys and 7 million girls) in the United States are obese. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics stated that in US individuals aged 20 years or older, the prevalence of obesity rose steadily from 19.4% in 1997 to 31.4% for the period January-September 2017.

Approximately 20-25% of children are either overweight or obese, and the prevalence is even greater in some minority groups, including Pima Indians, Mexican Americans, and African Americans.