(NewsNation) — For Americans hoping to achieve a healthy 2025, shedding a few pounds in the process is becoming more of a priority when it comes to compiling a list of New Year’s resolutions.
A recent Gallup poll shows 43% of U.S. residents consider themselves overweight. More than 5 in 10 Americans say they want to lose weight, according to the poll, but only 27% of those who want to trim down are actively working to accomplish their goals.
Gallup has tracked public opinion of people’s own weight since 1999. However, this year marked the first time that less than 50% of Americans admitted they are content with their weight, data shows. While 48% of respondents say they are OK with the number displayed on their bathroom scale, 43% said that they want to see that number go down.
The majority of those looking to lose weight (38%) consider themselves somewhat overweight while just 5% characterize themselves as very overweight. Conversely, about 11% of respondents say they want to weigh more than they currently do.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention considers a person to be overweight if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9. The CDC considers those with a BMI over 30 to be obese and says that a healthy weight is considered a BMI reading of between 18.5 and 24.9.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases estimates 1 in 3 Americans are overweight while 2 in every five adults (42.4%) is considered obese. Just 1 in 11 adults struggle with being severely obese, the organization reports.
Gallup data shows that women have historically had a greater desire to shed weight compared to men. Recent polling, which was conducted in November, shows that 61% of the women who responded to the poll want to lose weight compared to 48% of men who have the same desire.
Of those who are actively working to remove weight, women outpaced their male counterparts by a 32% to 23% margin.
As part of the effort to drop some pounds, about 24% of Americans say they wear a fitness tracker such as a smartwatch or smart ring to track their progress, Gallup research showed. Of those who fit into that category, 26% also rely on an app on their phone or tablet to track health data like how many steps they are taking each day or how much they are sleeping at night.
The biggest percentage of Americans who rely on fitness trackers (32%) are between the ages of 35 and 54, Gallup research showed. Only 21% of those who use technology to measure their activity levels are younger than 35 while 19% of respondents who use devices are older than 54.
About 77% of those tracking their health on various devices say that doing so helps achieve their health goals while 82% of respondents said that the information they garner from devices is helpful.