[lolinder]

> Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese".

And to elaborate on this: part of the reason these numbers are shockingly high vs what we subjectively experience is we have a really bad definition of overweight that miscategorizes lots of people who look (and probably are) perfectly healthy. BMI is an extremely rough guideline that's a bit useful at the state level but is a terrible metric for any individual to use to decide if they're healthy. I've seen my fair share of eating disorders directly caused by someone using BMI when it's inappropriate for their build or life stage.

When these stats are used by journalists and lay people rather than public health professionals who recognize the limitations, they're mostly good for giving >50% of everyone an excuse to pat themselves on the back that they're healthier than the >50% who are "overweight".