<P> The United States had the highest rate of obesity within the OECD grouping of large trading economies , . From 23 % obesity in 1962 , estimates have steadily increased . The following statistics comprise adults age 20 and over living at or near the poverty level . The obesity percentages for the overall US population are higher reaching 39.4 % in 1997 , 44.5 % in 2004 , 56.6 % in 2007 , and 63.8 % ( adults ) and 17 % ( children ) in 2008 . In 2010 , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) reported higher numbers once more , counting 65.7 % of American adults as obese , and 17 % of American children , and according to the CDC , 63 % teenage girls become overweight by age 11 . In 2013 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) found that 57.6 % of American citizens were obese . The organization estimates that 3 / 4 of the American population will likely be overweight or obese by 2020 . The latest figures from the CDC as of 2014 show that more than one - third ( 36.5 % ) of U.S. adults age 20 and older and 17 % of children and adolescents aged 2 -- 19 years were obese . A second study from the National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC showed that 37.7 % of US adults age 20 and older were obese as of 2014 ( 35.0 % for men and 40.4 % for women ) . </P>
from 1960 to 2008 the percent of american adults who were obese rose how much percent
63.8 %