More Than A Third Of U.S. Adults Are Obese, New Report Shows

CHICAGO — America's obesity epidemic is proving to be as stubborn as those maddening love handles, and shows no sign of reversing course. More than one-third of adults and almost 17 percent of children were obese in 2009-2010, echoing results since 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

"It's good that we didn't see increases. On the other hand, we didn't see any decreases in any group," said CDC researcher Cynthia Ogden.

Early in the decade, slight increases were seen among white, black and Hispanic men, and among Hispanic and black women. These changes may be leveling off, but the authors said they "found no indication that the prevalence of obesity is declining in any group."

In 2009-2010, more than 78 million adults and almost 13 million children aged 2-19 were obese, the CDC researchers reported.

Those numbers are staggering, and while they haven't increased in recent years, "we're plateauing at an unacceptably high prevalence rate," said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity prevention center at Children's Hospital Boston. He was not involved in the reports.

The CDC reports summarize results of national health surveys in children and adults, which are conducted every two years. The nationally representative surveys include in-person weight and height measurements. The 2009-2010 reports involved nearly 6,000 adults and about 4,000 children, from infancy through age 19.

The results were released online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Elbert Huang, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago who studies health care policy issues, said his research shows that even if obesity rates continue to remain stable, there will be dramatic increases down the road in diabetes and in costs linked with that disease. That's because Type 2 diabetes, among many diseases linked with obesity, becomes more prevalent as people age.

The latest reports – one on children and the other on adults – focused on obesity, meaning a body-mass index of at least 30. But the numbers of adults and children who were overweight, with a BMI of between 25 and 29, also remained high.

Overall, 33 percent of adults were overweight but not obese, versus about 15 percent of children and teens.

Rates of overweight or obese adults and children were generally higher in blacks and Hispanics than in whites.

The government says a healthy weight is a BMI of between 18 and 25. The index is a ratio of height to weight.

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Online:

JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Comments

[Jasel]

06:11 AM on 01/18/2012

Why are people obsessing over the accuracy of the BMI? Walk around any major city, visit some elementary or junior high schools , people watch at your local grocery store. You're going to see overweight people everywhere. Doesn't necessarily mean they're not healthy. But as judgmental and narrow minded, as people in this country can be (not to mention the incessant droning about personal responsibility) i always find it hilarious when the topic of weight in America comes up, the BMI is labeled the problem. Not the disgusting health habits of the majority in this country. I rarely see any claiming responsibility for their own weight either.

[lofttypeofaview]

05:32 AM on 01/18/2012

I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I never know how much energy I'm going to have from one moment to the next. When I go out, I try to walk to and from my destination for exercise but I always carry bus money just in case I can't. I am also Hypoglycemic and have to eat even when I'm not hungry just to keep my blood sugar from going low. I'm currently three pounds from obesity. I do eat healthy as much as I can afford to since healthy food is expensive but obviously it isn't enough to manage my weight.

[MJinCanada]

05:07 PM on 01/19/2012

I understand. Health issues that keep people from exercising are so frustrating. You lose muscle tone and then gain weight so much more easily. I discovered that after surgery and chemo, but at least I can fight my way back. CFS is permanent.

[lofttypeofaview]

02:42 AM on 01/20/2012

CFS isn't always permanent for all. There are people that recover completely, people that relapse and people like me who probably do have it permanently since I have had it for 17 years. For most people it only lasts for a few months to a couple of years. Keep up the good work, I'm glad that you are on your road to recovery.

[pinetrale]

02:52 AM on 01/18/2012

Just like there is dental hygeine, there is eating hygeine. You have to follow some basic rules on quality and quantity. You have to exercise periodic self control, then have a treat once in a while. If its not natural for you, you need to be educated early in the family. I don't think a kid should even see the insides of a fast food joint before they are 12, or later.

[MaryfromIL]

02:33 AM on 01/18/2012

My son doesn't have an off switch. As a baby, he would eat until he threw up. At 2 years old, he wolfed down 8 pieces of Kentucky fried (and threw up). I can only eat 2 pieces! On a recent cruise as an adult, he ate 3 lunches and 2 dinners daily, more than the professional football player at the table.

Yet he's 5'10" and weighs under 130. He's 29 years old.

Not gaining weight is his metabolism, as is his uncontrolled eating. It's not necessarily a good thing, because our family gets osteoporosis, we don't digest our food and are always hungry. I've heard it's an endocrine disorder. Also, his grocery bill is huge.

Extremely low weight is very dangerous medically as well. My other son was turned down for health insurance because he was 5'10" and weighed 114. I looked it up, very low weight is a risk factor.

[MJinCanada]

05:12 PM on 01/19/2012

Oh, my. Have they been checked out for thyroid and kidney disorders and such? My husband was eating hugely but losing weight and it turned out to be a kidney problem -- he was literally p!ssing away every bit of protein he ate. His urine foamed like whisked egg whites.

[MaryfromIL]

05:26 PM on 01/19/2012

that's good to know, I'll add that to the endocrine disorder to check. Only problem we have from it is osteoporosis and IBS, and small bones. My daughter is finally up to about 110. I weighed 90 lbs thru college, 5'4", and 112 when I was 30. Got up to 130 when I was in my late 40's.

Unfortunately, now the steroids ballooned me up, I'm the only one in the family over 130 lbs. It took 14 years, but I'm finally on enough effective meds for pain so I can work out a very little.

That's great you were able to figure out what your husband's problem is. Sometimes, it's like a puzzle.

[beth24]

02:24 AM on 01/18/2012

get off soy products and high fructose corn syrup and limit breads, pasta.. drizzle good quality olive oil on your steamed veggies and learn to love sauteed garlic add a little honey..give up soda do some exercise

[AmGirl2012]

11:15 AM on 01/18/2012

Yep!

[Phytoresearcher]

02:19 AM on 01/18/2012

Well, if Americans are not going to stop eating they need to consider taking a few chemo-protective nutrients such as transmax resveratrol, to at least reduce their chances of becoming a type 2 diabetic, having a massive heart attack or suffering dementia.

[AmGirl2012]

11:17 AM on 01/18/2012

Um no -- don't think that will help. Yesterday's great supplements are today's warnings. There was an article this week stating issues with the resveratrol study. I do take it and eat grapes, but certainly would never think it replaced a healthy lifestyle.

[Nick Vii]

12:44 AM on 01/18/2012

As much as I agree that obesity is a problem, I do feel the need to point out that the methods by which one is considered "obese" are a little shaky. The BMI (body mass index) scale only takes height and weight into account, and doesn't take factors like skeletal structure, weight distrubution, or even the ratio of fat-to-body weight.

According to the BMI scale, I'm considered to be right on the cusp of "overweight", and I'm in very good physical condition with no discernable surface fat and a pretty respectable muscle tone, to boot. Heck, I even have a flat stomach and it still considers me to be "overweight". And that's the problem with the BMI; it doesn't know the difference between muscles and fat. Only a doctor can make the definitive call on whether or not a person is overweight/obese, and a good portion of those listed in these statistics are on there simply because of their placement on the BMI.

[pinetrale]

02:57 AM on 01/18/2012

The bmi is just a guide, a warning sign, the post up ahead like the twilight zone use to say. There is normal variation within and actross the brackets . Recent studies suggest carrying a little extra weight isn't a problem if you don't have other risk factors like cardiac, kidney or diabetes, while there are Doctors who themselves try and under eat by 5% for longevity so they are constantly on the cusp of starvation, but still get the vitamins and key nutrients.

[loveisit4537]

12:09 AM on 01/18/2012

If the price of food keeps going up the problem will soon take care of itself!

[Fagen44]

11:46 PM on 01/17/2012

Yes I agree and I would say that IMO even more than one third are Overweight but I'm not that sure they are Obese! This problem of overweight has been getting worse as time goes by. Back in the 50's as a young teen, I started to become aware of overweight people and started to read statistics showing people in America being overweight. My sister who was two years younger and I also had this problem of becoming overweight. My Sister went to Weight Watchers after she graduated from High School and I joined the Army after High school but I failed the Physical because I was 25 pounds overweight. They told me to lose the weight in one Month and come back to be weighed again and I would be accepted. My Mother fed me only lean meat, vegetables and fresh fruit and I lost exactly 25 lbs and went into the Army for three years. There is no secret to losing weight because it is a simple formula to follow. Eat natural foods and eliminate the sugars and processed Carbohydrates, then burn more Calories per day than you take into your body and do daily exercise! That's it Folks, It's that Simple! Good Luck!

[fumobs]

11:21 PM on 01/17/2012

What?! Obesity?! ...NAW! Seriously??? Where is captain obvious when you need him???

[sjk09s]

11:03 PM on 01/17/2012

That belly in the pic doesn't even look that big too me. Couldn't they have found a really big muffin top for the story?

[gmgpjandon]

11:02 PM on 01/17/2012

Yea man! their fat! But they have their rights. Of which, mother nature could care less.

[shifterkartdrvr]

10:13 PM on 01/17/2012

Here... piggy,piggy. Here...piggy, piggy....

[Leon Engelun]

10:11 PM on 01/17/2012

No chit about the fat. I am 5'10 and 170 lbs and I feel like I am about to bust at the seams. I found a woman's drivers liscense on the ground and mailed it to her, but it showed her at 5'2" and 238 lbs. I see fatty pants people all the time. I even read an article about 6 months ago that said overweight people in the US is now at 67%. I guess we love our fast foods and chips.

[sirenaisis]

09:51 PM on 01/17/2012

What a lot of people froget is that when we age we tend to get heavier due to the fact that our matabalism is not like a childs any more. When it comes to kids its the parents job to make shore their children are eating right and leaving out junk food unless that child had some sort of operation that an organ like the gull bladder was taken out or something then its understandable that the child is over weight but that child should not be over weight to the point where they are obease. Its still up to the parents to make shore that their children are eating healthy especially those who MUST eat healthy due to certain reasons. If a child can not loose weight and the parents are extream healthy earters along with their child then that child should be tested like thyoride or something...any way tests should be done. Same thing with adults..