43% of Americans Say They Are Overweight; 55% Want to Slim Down

Used in 2 entries

For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.

1. [1] Frequent snacking Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   27% of US adults are actively working to lose weight; 55% want to lose weight; 43% view themselves as overweight

   “"43%, view themselves as overweight... 55%, say they want to lose weight... only 27% report they are actively working toward that goal."”

   Calculation notes

   Gallup national poll, N=1,001 US adults, fielded November 6-20, 2024, margin of error ±4 percentage points. Used here as the inaction-side proxy: 27% of US adults are actively pursuing weight management, a state that implies current dissatisfaction with some aspect of current eating behavior including the absence of structural snacking discipline. This is NOT a direct regret measure about the meals-only pattern; in fact, the meals-only pattern is the minority position (95% of US adults snack daily per NHANES), so the question \"do you regret not snacking?\" is structurally rare. The 27% captures the directional signal: a substantial minority of US adults are actively dissatisfied enough with their current diet to do something about it, and \"cut the snacks\" is one of the most common dietary-change targets in popular guidance.
   

   Independence note: Independent Gallup national poll using random-digit-dial methodology; no shared sample with USDA NHANES or Piernas & Popkin. Different methodology and different construct.

   Source date: 2024-12-10 · Accessed: 2026-05-30

2. [2] Intermittent fasting Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   27% of US adults are actively working to lose weight; 55% want to lose weight; 43% view themselves as overweight

   “"43%, view themselves as overweight... 55%, say they want to lose weight... only 27% report they are actively working toward that goal."”

   Calculation notes

   Gallup national poll, N=1,001 US adults, fielded November 6-20, 2024, margin of error ±4 percentage points. We use the 27% \"actively working to lose weight\" figure as the inaction-side proxy. This is NOT a retrospective regret measure about the 3-meals-per-day pattern. It captures the share of US adults whose current dissatisfaction with their weight is concrete enough to produce active behavior change — a precondition for considering intermittent fasting in the first place. Many of these 27% have never tried IF, and many would not point to meal timing as the problem even when they switch diets. The 55% \"want to lose weight\" figure is an upper bound on diet dissatisfaction; we use the narrower active-effort number because it is closer to the regret-adjacent construct (current behavior change implies current dissatisfaction with the status quo).
   

   Independence note: Independent Gallup national poll using random-digit-dial methodology; no shared sample or weighting frame with the Patikorn umbrella review or the Liu/NEJM trial.

   Source date: 2024-12-10 · Accessed: 2026-05-30