Gallup finds U.S. obesity rate down to 37.0% as GLP-1 use for weight loss reaches 12.4%

The U.S. adult obesity rate has fallen to 37.0% from a record high of 39.9% in 2022, a decrease Gallup calls statistically meaningful and equal to about 7.6 million fewer adults with obesity ^[1]. Over the same period, the share of U.S. adults who report taking a GLP-1 medicine specifically for weight loss rose to 12.4%, up from 5.8% when Gallup first measured it in February 2024 ^[1][2]. Diabetes diagnoses, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of 13.8% ^[1].

Gallup's results are based on three nationally representative web surveys of 16,946 U.S. adults interviewed during the first three quarters of 2025, drawn from its probability-based Gallup Panel ^[1]. Obesity is calculated from self-reported height and weight using the federal standard of a body mass index of 30 or higher, and the diabetes rate includes both Type 1 and Type 2 ^[1]. Gallup notes that a "vanity effect" in how respondents present themselves may explain why its obesity estimates run lower than studies using clinical measurements, but says the consistent method makes the trend useful ^[1]. Statista, citing Gallup, describes the same 12.4% figure as coming from surveys of more than 15,000 U.S. adults over the past two years ^[2].

Use is uneven across groups. Women report taking a GLP-1 for weight loss at 15.2% versus 9.7% for men, and both groups more than doubled their use in about a year ^[1]. The obesity rate among women dropped 3.5 percentage points to 38.8%, while the rate among men fell 2.3 points to 35.2% ^[1]. By age, adults 40 to 49 saw obesity fall 4.3 points to 43.3%, alongside 16.2% reporting GLP-1 use for weight loss; adults 50 to 64 dropped 5.0 points to 42.8%, with 17.0% reporting use ^[1]. Adults 65 and older had the third-highest reported use, 11.1%, up 6.5 points since early 2024, but showed no reduction in obesity since 2022 ^[1]. The youngest adults and seniors were essentially unchanged ^[1]. Gallup says it did not measure GLP-1 use for weight loss in 2022 or 2023 ^[1].

Gallup treats the falling obesity rate and the rising diabetes rate as consistent rather than contradictory: diabetes is a lifetime diagnosis, so short-term reductions in obesity would not be expected to shrink the share of Americans ever told they have it ^[1]. The report also states that GLP-1s "should not be considered a cure-all for overall health or other disease states" ^[1]. Awareness of weight loss drugs rose from 80% to 89% nationally over the same period ^[1].

Public opinion is split

Pew Research Center found that 53% of U.S. adults say weight loss drugs are good options for people with obesity or weight-related health conditions, while 62% say semaglutide is not a good option for people who do not have a weight-related health condition ^[1]. A separate Statista Consumer Insights survey of more than 1,000 U.S. respondents in January and February 2026 found over 26% combined describing GLP-1s as a legitimate option for a chronic disease or a next step if lifestyle changes fail; about 9% expressed hesitation, including the belief that weight should be managed through willpower alone, and about 8% said using the medication carries no stigma because it "is so common now" ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

The Gallup figures describe a national trend, not what any one person should expect. The data are self-reported and cross-sectional, so they show that rising GLP-1 use and falling obesity happened at the same time — they do not prove that the medications caused the decline. Gallup writes that the drugs "may be playing a role" ^[1].

Access remains a live question. Gallup notes that 13 states fully cover GLP-1s for obesity treatment under Medicaid, and that legislative efforts continue to target expanded coverage; whether the current decline becomes lasting may depend on how far access expands ^[1]. The drugs have been on the U.S. market for weight loss since semaglutide was approved by the FDA in 2021, following liraglutide (Saxenda) in 2014 ^[1].

Older adults are a group to watch. Gallup's earlier research indicated that older Americans report less effectiveness from GLP-1 injections for weight loss than younger age groups do, and the 65-and-older group in this wave showed no obesity reduction even as its reported use climbed ^[1].

One figure has not moved in a favorable direction: the 13.8% diabetes rate is the highest Gallup has recorded ^[1]. Gallup says that rate would only begin to fall if new diabetes cases declined ^[1].