A study estimates that 260 million people in the United States suffer from obesity

A new study reveals that nearly 260 million people in the United States are expected to be overweight or obese within two decades.

The study, the results of which were published in the journal “The Lancet“It is predicted that by 2050, approximately 43.1 million children and adolescents and 213 million adults will be overweight or obese.

This means that millions of people will suffer from obesity-related health problems, including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, respiratory problems and mental health challenges.

In 2021, 36.5 million children and adolescents and 172 million adults were overweight or obese.

The researchers concluded that health care costs related to obesity are high in the United States, between $261 billion and $481 billion in 2016.

Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington reached these conclusions through a model to identify trends in overweight and obesity that relied on historical data from 134 sources from all major national research centers.

The study notes that overweight and obesity have been a growing problem in the United States for years.

Obesity rates among older adults and teens have doubled over the past three decades, and its rate among American women ages 15 to 24 has risen faster than men from 1990 to 2021.

The researchers noted that a greater number of people suffer from obesity in some southern states, and the study expected that the obesity rate will continue to rise in these states, including Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia, and Kentucky.