New research shows one in five U.S. children are obese, as the Make America Healthy Again Commission outlines sweeping recommendations to address chronic illness.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
One in five children in the United States is now classified as obese, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers analyzed health data from more than 6 million American children collected in 2024 through eight clinical research networks. The findings indicate that approximately 20 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 19 meet the criteria for obesity.
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The data further show that about 27 percent of children ages 2 to 5 are either overweight or obese. Among teenagers and young adults, that number rises to nearly 40 percent. Just under 10 percent of teenagers and young adults fall into the category of severe obesity.
The findings come amid broader federal concern about chronic disease among youth. The Make America Healthy Again Commission, established earlier this year, released a report in May 2025 identifying obesity as part of a larger childhood chronic disease crisis.
According to the Commission’s report, chronic conditions including obesity are being driven by increased consumption of ultra-processed foods, exposure to toxic chemicals, sedentary lifestyles and overprescription of medications. The report states that the Commission’s objective is “reversing the childhood chronic disease crisis… by getting to the truth of why we are getting sick and spurring pro-growth policies and innovations to reverse these trends.”
Federal health data reflect the scope of the issue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than four in 10 U.S. children have at least one chronic health condition, including asthma. The Department of Defense has reported that approximately 75 percent of American youth are ineligible for military service, primarily because of obesity and inadequate physical fitness.
The Make America Healthy Again Commission concluded its report with ten recommendations aimed at reversing current trends. Among them are proposals for long-term nutritional trials comparing whole-food diets with ultra-processed food diets, as well as the development of new systems to monitor the safety of vaccines and medications.
Additional recommendations include examining the safety of food additives classified as “Generally Recognized as Safe” by the Food and Drug Administration, forming a task force to analyze chronic disease patterns using artificial intelligence, and expanding investment in non-animal testing models for evaluating drugs and food additives.
President Trump established the Make America Healthy Again Commission in February, appointing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as chair. In a February executive action, the President directed the Commission to “study the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes, including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism.”
As obesity rates continue to climb across multiple age groups, federal officials and researchers are examining both clinical data and policy strategies in an effort to better understand and address the long-term health trajectory of American children.
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