The high number of young people with obesity is particularly worrying. Studies show that young people who are obese or overweight are more likely than those of average weight to have weight problems later in life.

The study noted that some regions of the country are more likely to be affected, with southern states having a disproportionately larger population with obesity. The states with the highest prevalence of obesity now will continue to have high numbers, including Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia and Kentucky. Compared to 2021, the largest increases are expected in Colorado and New Mexico.

Specifically, the study found that in Texas, more than half of all adolescent males between the ages of 15 and 24 are obese or overweight. In Mississippi, two-thirds of older teenage girls are overweight or obese. In Mississippi, 80 percent of adult women are overweight or obese.

The researchers note that their study has some limitations. Trends could change, so past trends may not be what happens in the future. Because of the lack of data, the researchers could not project obesity levels for children at the state level.

In addition, data on overweight and obesity are limited because they are usually based on BMI, a measure that does not accurately account for differences in body structures within ethnic and racial groups. For example, among the Asian population, trends tend to show more severe weight-related negative health consequences at a lower BMI than among people who identify as white.

The current number of overweight and obese people shows that not enough is being done at the population level to help people’s health, researchers say.

“Our analysis exposes the decades-long failure to address the growing overweight and obesity epidemic in the US,” said study co-author Emmanuela Gakidou, co-founder of the Institute for Health Values ​​and Evaluation.

Demand for drugs to treat obesity will increase, but Ng cautions that they are “not a silver bullet”. Access to medicines is limited and costs can be prohibitive.

Prevention will be key, Ng said, starting with pregnancy and infant feeding practices. Healthier school lunches, more regulations on junk food and programs that make fruits and vegetables more widely available will be important, the study suggests. It will also be important to create safer and more accessible neighborhoods to encourage more physical exercise.

There is evidence that population-level solutions can work if there is the will to implement them, said Dr. Barry Popkin, WR Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina.

Sweetened beverages often contribute to obesity, noted Popkin, who was not involved in the new research. More than 40 countries and some US cities, including Philadelphia and Oakland, have imposed taxes on these drinks, and many have seen a reduction in calorie consumption.

In Mexico, even in the first year of a peso per liter excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, there was a 6% reduction in the number of these beverages purchased, one of his studies showedand an additional 4% discount the following year. People drank more water, so the number of calories they consumed was reduced, according to his research.

In the first three years of new food labels in Chile, he said, there was 22 percent less sodium consumption, 33 percent less sugar consumption and 22 percent less calorie consumption.

The challenge, Popkin said, will be finding leaders in the U.S. who are willing to work on solutions to the obesity epidemic. It is not expected to become a priority for the second Trump administration, if the first is any indication.

In his first term, Trump’s budgets have repeatedly proposed cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Also, the Trump administration rolled back many of the Obama-era rules that were meant to give kids access to healthier school lunches brought back sugar-sweetened beverages like chocolate milk.

“Population solutions can be very effective,” Popkin said. “And clearly we need them depending on what’s next.”