March 2024

In the United States, nearly 1 in 5 children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years were affected by obesity in 2020. Worse still, childhood obesity rates rose during the pandemic, and they continue to increase. These statistics aren’t abstract epidemiologic concepts. They clearly reflect that our children are becoming sicker and at greater risk for lifelong problems, and they are entirely preventable.

When it comes to healthy diets, the science says to eat more vegetables and consume less sugar. Nutrition is key to health and well-being, but as Healthy People 2030 data indicate, we’ve got more work to do — especially when you consider that most American diets don’t align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Nutrition is a thread that runs through all the work we do at ODPHP — because we know that maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is a critical way to prevent disease and promote good health. As the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans tells us, there is substantial evidence that healthy diets can improve health and reduce the risk of chronic disease over the course of one’s life...