Published on April 30, 2025
(c) lineartist Fotosearch_k69365797
While obesity rates have increased in most age groups in the United States, the biggest rise has been in older Americans.
Some stats:
As of the most recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) covering August 2021 to August 2023, the prevalence of obesity (having a BMI of or greater than 30) among U.S. adults aged 60 and over is as follows:
👨 Men 38.0%
👩 Women: 38.9%
These figures indicate that nearly 4 in 10 older adults fall into the obesity category, with women showing a slightly higher prevalence than men.
Further, 6.6% of adults aged 60 and over are in the severe obese category, having a BMI of or greater than 40. While the data does not provide a specific breakdown by gender for this percentage, overall, women have a higher prevalence of severe obesity (12.1%) compared to men (6.7%) across all age groups.
According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among adults ages 65 and older, and the fall death rate is increasing. The age-adjusted fall death rate increased by 41% from 55.3 per 100,000 older adults in 2012 to 78.0 per 100,000 older adults in 2021. Common sense, then, tells us that obese seniors MUST be more likely to have a fall and, therefore, more likely to suffer long-term injury or death as a result.
This is because obesity is linked to muscle weakness, leg pain, cognitive and balance deficits, and vitamin D deficiency, that collectively increases fall risk. Excess body fat also increases osteoporosis risk, making overweight fall victims more prone to broken bones.
While every fall cannot be prevented, losing weight is one of the steps an overweight older adult should take. Doing so will not only improve balance, but also protect against a range of age-related ailments, such as heart disease, dementia, incontinence, and macular degeneration.
Slimcerely yours℠,
