Share of obese high school students in the U.S. by state 2019

In 2019, around 23 percent of high school students in the state of Mississippi were obese, making it the state with the highest share of obese high school students that year. Colorado and Montana had the lowest obesity percentages among students that year.

Adult obesity per state

Mississippi not only had the highest rate of obese high school students in 2019, it was also the U.S. state with the highest percentage of obese adults in 2019, which was about 41 percent. Obesity remains a growing problem in the United States, especially in the southern states.

Body image among college students

In the fall of 2020, just over half of U.S. college students (18 years and older) described their weight as “about the right weight”. Roughly a third of the respondents stated that they were slightly overweight, while just under seven percent said they were very overweight. Furthermore, roughly 42 percent of college students rated their health as very good, while less than 2 percent of this group rated their general health as poor.