Obesity

Individuals who are overweight or obese are at a heightened risk of developing conditions such as high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids, diabetes, and increased LDL cholesterol, all of which are significant contributors to heart disease and stroke.

This page provides data points and curated searches from OMH’s Knowledge Center library catalog related to obesity within minority and tribal populations in the United States and its territories. The number of catalog records for each topic reflect the search results at the time of this page’s latest update.

American Indian/Alaska Native

In 2023, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native students in grades 9–12 were 18% more likely to be overweight than their peers in the total population.1 Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native female students were twice as likely to be overweight than all female students. Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native male students were 52% less likely to be overweight than all male students. In 2024, American Indian/Alaska Native adults were 22% more likely to be obese than adults of the total population.2

For additional data on obesity and American Indians/Alaska Natives, please visit our Population Profiles.

Asian American

Non-Hispanic Asian American students in grades 9–12 were 24% less likely to be overweight than their peers of the total population in 2023.3 Non-Hispanic Asian American female students were 53% less likely to be overweight than female students of the total population. Non-Hispanic Asian American male students were 4% more likely to be overweight than male students of the total population. In 2024, non-Hispanic Asian American adults were 63% less likely to be obese than adults of the total population.4

For additional data on obesity and Asian Americans, please visit our Population Profiles.

Black/African American

In 2023, non-Hispanic Black or African American students in grades 9–12 had the second highest obesity rates at 20.2%, compared to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students at 38.0% and followed by Hispanic students at 19.5%.5 Non-Hispanic Black or African American female students were 55% more likely to be obese than all female students. Non-Hispanic Black or African American male students were 8% more likely to be obese than all male students. In 2024, non-Hispanic Black or African American adults were 28% more likely to be obese than adults of the total population.6

For additional data on obesity and Black/African Americans, please visit our Population Profiles.

Hispanic/Latino

In 2024, Hispanic/Latino American adults were only about 10% more likely than the total U.S. population to have a BMI of 30 or greater.7 In 2020, among men, adult Hispanic/Latino American men were least likely to meet federal physical activity guidelines, whereas among women, adult Hispanic/Latino American women were the second most likely to meet federal physical activity guidelines after white women.8 From 2017–2020, Hispanic/Latino American children (ages 2–19) had the highest obesity prevalence (26.2%) compared to the total population of children.9 Hispanic/Latino American boys had the highest obesity prevalence (29.3%) among boys in the total U.S. population. Hispanic/Latino American girls had the second highest obesity prevalence (23.0%) among girls in the total U.S. population.

For additional data on obesity and Hispanic Americans, please visit our Population Profiles.

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

In 2023, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students in grades 9–12 were 2.39 times as likely to be obese as their peers of the total population.10 Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander female students were 77% more likely to be obese than female students of the total U.S. population. Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander male students were 3.26 times as likely to be obese than male students of the total U.S. population. In 2024, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults were 27% more likely to be obese than adults of the total U.S. population.11

For additional data on obesity and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, please visit our Population Profiles.

---

1 CDC. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. High School Students Who Were Overweight, 2023. (Back)

2 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of obesity for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. (Back)

3 CDC. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. High School Students Who Were Overweight, 2023. (Back)

4 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of obesity for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. (Back)

5 CDC. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. High School Students Who Had Obesity, 2023. (Back)

6 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of obesity for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. (Back)

7 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Percentage of obesity for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. National Health Interview Survey. Generated interactively: Aug 20 2025. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryTool/SHS_adult/index.html (Back)

8 NCHS, 2022. Physical activity among adults aged 18 and over: United States, 2020. NCHS Data Brief, no 443. Figure 3. (Back)

9 CDC, 2021. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic Data Files -- Development of Files and Prevalence Estimates for Selected Health Outcomes. Table 3. (Back)

10 CDC. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. High School Students Who Had Obesity, 2023. (Back)

11 CDC. National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of obesity for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. (Back)