Obesity And Middle Age: People In Midlife Have Highest Rate of Obesity, Study Shows

The obesity rate in America may have plateaued and may even be declining in some areas, but many in middle age are still carrying around their spare tires, according to the newly released Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index™ (WBI). While the obesity rate in America fell in 2011 to 26.1 percent, from 26.6 percent in 2010 and 26.5 percent in 2009, those aged 45 to 64 still have the highest obesity rate in the nation -- a whopping 30.8 percent. The study found an even higher rate of obesity among middle-aged African Americans and Hispanics: 41.0 percent and 34.5 percent, respectively.

As you age, a slower metabolism and muscle loss may make burning calories more difficult, so eating like you did in your 20s could result in weight gain. But obesity goes beyond not being able to fit into your daughter's jeans -- an obese person has an excess amount of fat, with a BMI of 30 or greater. Health risks of obesity include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea and other serious issues. Obesity can also have a tremendous impact on your wallet.

“The obesity epidemic isn’t just a public health issue; it’s also a financial burden on individuals, companies and governments,” Ben Leedle, Jr., Healthways president and CEO, said in a statement. “According to the National Institutes of Health, the annual incremental cost of healthcare per person due to obesity is $1,429."

What can you do to beat these statistics and shed extra pounds? Check out the slide show below.

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• Know What You Should Weigh

  Sounds obvious, doesn't it? Surprisingly, many people who admit they could "maybe stand to lose a few pounds" actually have more serious weight problems than they are admitting to. Try this <a href="http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/" target="_hplink">body mass index calculator </a>to see where you fall, and check with your doctor about what your ideal weight should be to avoid health problems.

• Skip The Fad Diets And Stick To The Basics

  It's human nature to want a quick, painless fix to all our problems, which is the appeal of fad diets. These diets take many forms including focusing on one particular food item, such as grapefruit. The problem is that these diets often lack the major nutrients and protective phytochemicals that we need, such as antioxidants, according to <a href="http://women.webmd.com/fad-diets" target="_hplink"> WebMd.com</a>. Sorry, there's no magic pill for being overweight. <em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/" target="_hplink">Muffet</a></em>

• Rome, And Weight Loss, Weren't Built In A Day

  Weight loss needs to be gradual if it's going to stick. You've heard (and probably ignored) the adage that the most successful diet is one that involves a lifestyle change. In plain English, they mean skip the potato chips and convince yourself that carrot sticks are just as satisfying. Check with your doctor for what the best diet is for you. Set realistic goals so that you wean yourself off the bad habits and maintain your weight loss. After all, what good is losing it if you just regain it when you slip into old eating patterns?

• Learn Portion Control

  Carbs may feel like the enemy, but instead of demonizing them, learn to eat a correct portion size -- which unfortunately is not an entire pizza or a giant bowl of pasta with meat sauce. Many people don't actually know what a correct portion size looks like. Weight Watchers defines a portion of meat -- like grilled chicken -- as the size of a <a href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/about/prs/wwi_template.aspx?GCMSID=1002991" target="_hplink">deck of cards</a>. Uh-huh. Did you just pack double that amount on your salad for lunch and think you were being virtuous?

• Measure, Don't Eyeball

  Once you know what a portion size is, don't trust your judgment. Measure it. One of the most shocking things to learn is what a half cup of rice actually looks like. <br> <em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/b_2/" target="_hplink">B*2</a></em>

• Write Down What You Eat

  Bites add up -- or "Just let me have one bite," said the dieter to the Devil. While there are some who can stop after one bite, there are many who can't. And if you add up your bites all day long, you just may be surprised how many calories you've added to your diet. <br> <em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoarment/" target="_hplink">Marco Arment</a></em>

• Get Out There And Move

  Can this be said often enough? Walk the dog around the block instead of just opening the back door. Grab a friend and walk in the mall in inclement weather. Nobody is expecting you to hit five pilates classes a week, but try to move for at least <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/PhysicalActivity/StartWalking/American-Heart-Association-Guidelines_UCM_307976_Article.jsp#.T00dlHLOzDU" target="_hplink">30 minutes a day, five days a week</a>. <br> <em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/revstan/" target="_hplink">Rev Stan</a></em>

• Find A Gym That Works For You Or Get Your Own Equipment

  Is there anything more depressing than huffing and puffing on a treadmill while surrounded by hard-bodied 20-somethings running much faster but who have barely broken into a sweat? My answer was just to invest in a used treadmill and put it in the garage. I hop on it at my convenience and in privacy.

• Figure Out What Works For You As Incentives

  I know a woman who starts out her diet buying a new pair of jeans in the size she aims to wear. I know someone else who tapes a college photo of herself on the refrigerator door. Me? I put my kids' pictures up there to remind me why I don't really want to eat the ice cream.

• Dieting Isn't A Competition

  Some like the support that attending diet program meetings provides. Others say it turns into a competition. When it comes to dieting, you fool no one but yourself and that's the only person you answer to. The brass ring here doesn't go to who drops 30 pounds soonest. You are doing this for yourself, your health and your well-being. Don't put yourself in a situation where you feel so bad that others seem to be having an easier time of things that you get discouraged and quit.

• Dieting Plateaus Are Tough But Can't Be The End Of The Road

  Many people hit <a href="http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-move-beyond-a-weight-loss-plateau" target="_hplink">diet plateaus</a>. Things start to slow and level off, and once in a while, your scale gets stuck at a point. Nothing you do seems to help, and frustration sets in. Relax and know that just staying the course will eventually rev up your metabolic engine again. It's the hardest part of dieting. One suggestion: Try <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/23/drink.water.lose.weight/index.html" target="_hplink">drinking more water</a> -- it may help you lose the pounds. <br> <em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22280677@N07/" target="_hplink">Svadilfari</a></em>

Comments

[Linda Lyons-Bailey]

09:04 PM on 03/07/2012

luagarn: What freedoms do you mean exactly? I don't consider one of you people telling me when, how, or with whom to have sex, or restricting certain people from marrying, to be particularly freeing.

[Linda Lyons-Bailey]

09:02 PM on 03/07/2012

Duh...

[Vincent Colombo]

09:00 PM on 03/02/2012

“I am the the person typical to the demographic this article addresses. I am 59 years old and until two years ago, was grossly overweight. I saw a comment on another Huff Post article by Jason Lilly mentioning LiveFitRevolution.org, the non-profit site that he co-founded with "Kettlebell Queen", Alysia Gadson. I have never met these people, but I have benefited so much from using their site that I feel a moral obligation to help the rest of the world discover it. I am restating my previous remark here. Using the LiveFit site has not cost me one cent, and the improvement in my health through the site's resources is priceless to me.” I'd recommend that anyone who feels that they are described in this article visit the LiveFit Revolution site.

[luagarn]

08:18 AM on 03/01/2012

Thanks to Huff my comments were censored. This one will probably be censored too. Remember
when you read ol Huff here that they are flagship for a censored media. Any way here goes.

I have never seen more idiotic comments on a subject as I have here. You can definetly tell the
freeedom taking libs from the freedom loving conservatives. I have never had an increase in my insurance policy because someone else is over-weight. Come on people, you need to quit
listening to that junk. Insurance goes up over $1,000 per year when people are over-weight?
Get real.

[Vincent Colombo]

08:33 PM on 03/02/2012

Without getting into politics, I'd just like to point out that this article does not say that the cost of individual insurance premiums goes up over $1000 per year. It says that the total additional cost of healthcare per year in the U.S. due to obesity divided by the number of people in the country is just over $1500. That cost is paid by the whole citizenry in one form or another, but not necessarily through insurance premiums.

[luagarn]

04:37 PM on 03/03/2012

There's no need to go into politics on this subject. So what you are saying is that if I be-come over-weight that will cause you to pay $1500 more, one way or the other. Do you really believe that? I just can't see that. How come you never hear about alcoholism or
drug addiction and the rise in coast each they bring? How come it is just over-weight
people and smokers that cause a rise in costs? This is just a way to find how this
government can collect new taxes, in my opinion. I just can't see it how 1 over-weight
person can cost that much.

[Antitea]

08:06 AM on 03/01/2012

I like this study, because it gives me almost ten years before I have to see myself as "middle aged".

[nolib1937]

09:37 PM on 02/29/2012

I just had a rack of ribs a half a loaf of french bread and vegies for dinner ! All I can say is screw you liberals I will eat what I want !

[Antitea]

08:07 AM on 03/01/2012

Yup, keep eating like that, overtaxing the health care we were nice enough to give you.

[nolib1937]

09:52 PM on 03/04/2012

I have my own I don't need Obama care ! I am not a sponge like you !

[steve12]

07:56 PM on 03/04/2012

What liberal is telling you that you can't eat that stuff? It's not just liberals that are telling you that too much red meat and fattening foods are bad for you. Actually, Jack LaLanne was saying the same thing over a half century ago. The difference between then and now is that a lot more people are saying what Jack LaLanne said so very long ago and that the problem with obesity is far worse now than it was then.

Check it out,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuW3RfWJ1H0

[nolib1937]

09:54 PM on 03/04/2012

I am not a liberal I do not sit on my as- and wait for my welfare check ! I work hard and I am not a fat lazy lib !

[Joe Menor]

08:54 PM on 02/29/2012

10 years ago I moved from MN to MD and found myself to be a "fat smoker". It was a MAJOR lifestyle freakout for me. I quit smoking and dropped 35 lbs. After a couple years I had family events that prompted MANY visits back to the Midwest... wow, what an eye-opener! Leave the D.C. area and head west, people get FATTER with every passing mile.

[catmagnet]

02:30 PM on 03/01/2012

Actually, I see a lot of thin people here in Tennessee...same in Wisconsin when I lived there.

My brother was obese when he lived in the DC/Baltimore area, and still is now in Pennsylvania.

My point? There is a mix of thin people and fat people EVERYWHERE in the US.

[Joe Menor]

04:52 PM on 03/03/2012

My view may be biased... I lived In Kensington, MD where all the women wore jogbras and "spanx" type undies all over the place. Men usually dressed as if they were headed for the golf course or the gym. If a person were to dress normally and go to Safeway, the present crowd could make them feel absolutely OBESE by comparison. It was depressing and inspiring at the same time. But it worked, I never felt better in my whole life! I would go back in a flash if I could.

[stephie2012]

08:17 PM on 02/29/2012

School food; They serve the same stuff every day cheese burgers, fries, pastas, pizza, they have salads out but they are all topped with egg, bacon, cheese etc. there is milk chocolate, strawberry, plain but really what kid wants plain milk, and how much sugar is in the chocolate and strawberry? Fruit? packed in syrup. kids get home, they eat roman that are like 10 cents a pack, because their parents cant afford to buy salad at $4 people like to blame it on being lazy or fast food or over eating but its because the cheap food is the unhealthy food. pasta, rice, etc. are cheap fillers, you can buy pounds of it for a few bucks. Parents cant provide healthy food AND keep a roof over their heads and clothes on their bodys. my parents went bank rupt we had bulk dinners made in a big pot and it would last. always made with rice or pasta. but other than that all we could afford was roman. Remember that when your broke with 3 kids quantity is always important. I went out and played everyday: baseball, football, kickball you name it. It didnt help i was still fat it was the inexpensive food. Healthy food should be less expensive. it doesnt make since that something processed and altered should be cheaper than stuff that just has to grow or be caught. less of a process to get a product less labor, smaller cost that makes since.

[nj and you perfect]

08:13 PM on 02/29/2012

New Jersey govenor chris christe should be the poster boy for obesity.He thinks we should do away with phys-ed in schools one less useless teacher.I,m sure he would sign a bill for extra lunch periods!

[elmjcil]

08:08 PM on 02/29/2012

This is really sad. So much physical and mental pain is caused by being so much overweight.
Diabetes, heart disease, depression, high cholesterol among others.
I was 30 pounds over my normal weight with a cholesterol of 264. Too high.

In 3 months I lost 35 pounds and 60 points on my cholesterol. It involved being aware of what I was eating and when I was eating. Moderate "normal" exercise.

Simply: No grains, no starch, no sugar. Eat veggies and a protein every meal. That's it. Simple.

Want to remind people that - if you have fat in your waist and abdomen then all of your organs are fatty as well. Picture that.
Read labels faithfully. Look at ingredients closely - get familiar. High fructose corn syrup for instance is a definate NO NO.

[WilmaJune]

01:30 PM on 03/01/2012

Eating vegetables and protein every meal raised my cholesterol so high that I now take pills to lower it. Vegetables raw or cooked caused loose stools. With all the craziness, I gained ten pounds. Doctor told me to eat a more balanced diet and take a multivitamin pill. Now, I am slowly losing weight. We are not all alike.

[ROTOTOUDA]

10:40 AM on 03/03/2012

http://arouda.blogspot.com/2011/05/fear-of-fat.html

[jneal11254]

08:00 PM on 02/29/2012

My aunt, a tough old 90 year old from Australia has a saying: Did you ever see a starving man fat? The fact is that when you eat high calorie foods all the time, and sit in front of the computer or the television the rest of the time, you are going to be obese. I realize there are people with genuine health problems that make obesity unavoidable, but for the vast majority of us, it is a simple choice. And, I am sure Rchldrnd, the dietitian who commented below would agree with this: You don't need an expensive diet plan. Just eat much smaller portions of everything and walk several miles a day. You will lose weight. My wife was a clinical and consulting dietitian, and she said that over and over.

[zmfts]

07:59 PM on 02/29/2012

What's funny is that it used to be that only the wealthy were fat. Being overweight was an enviable characteristic because only rich people could really afford to indulge themselves. Also, our bodies are specifically designed to store fat, to keep us warm and to enable us to survive through periods when there is no food readily available. Obviously, that's not as much of a problem in modern society, where anybody can get a double cheeseburger for a dollar, but our bodies are programmed to store fat. It's what we're built for. I really do think this is one of those things that we do just to prove that we can manipulate nature...like shaving or mowing the grass.

I also blame food manufacturers. So many things are made with artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients that just dont exist in nature. If we just ate off the land and consumed natural, edible things like fruits and vegetables (and, sure, animals, if that floats your boat) we'd be fine, but we process things and refine them so that our bodies don't have to do any work digesting anything, and it all turns to fat.

Here's your soapbox back. I'm done.

[jnesteljr]

07:44 PM on 02/29/2012

We need more regulations to bring these food companies to make what they know is a better product for Americans. It turn people need to make an effort to eat less and exercise.

[nolib1937]

09:29 PM on 02/29/2012

We need more regulations ! I don't have to ask ! Your a liberal . . .

[jnesteljr]

08:35 AM on 03/01/2012

More like a realist.

Without rules and regs you have chaos and imminent destruction.

Thunderdome does not work out!

[steve12]

08:06 PM on 03/04/2012

I am also a liberal, but I don't think we need more regulation. We need better inspection and the elimination of subsidies for unhealthy foods. I would say that we need more education, than regulation. If there is more demand for healthy foods, the food companies will make it.

As the old saying goes, "you can bring the horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

[jnesteljr]

09:02 PM on 03/04/2012

How about demanding that calorie counts accompany all foods displayed and sold in restaurants like in NY?

I know what you mean about the horse analogy though!

[helenherowe]

07:44 PM on 02/29/2012

Maybe because everything we do in this country encourages obesity and when Mrs Obama tries to help she is ridiculed. People sue if they get harmed on physical equipment. Sidwalks have gone. Motorist do not want anything but motor vehicles on the road. If you want healthy Americans lots of things are going to have to change. Sueing in one. Lawyers have gotten out of hand.,

[standuppeople]

07:37 PM on 02/29/2012

"YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT" Eat to be fat and you will be fat!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eat to be healthy and you will be healthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watch what I eat, and I stay healthy. The person who thinks otherwise, is an idiot! So live or die! No big f........ing deal to me

[Joe Menor]

09:00 PM on 02/29/2012

I think there's something wrong with your keyboard, or maybe you just leaned on the !!!!!!!!!!! a bit to much. We get the point. Don't do it again, people hate that and you will not be taken seriously. Just sayin'.

[fahidMsalam]

10:25 PM on 02/29/2012

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ROTOTOUDA]

10:42 AM on 03/03/2012

Joe: What's the big deal? You say "people hate that." What people? You? Is it really so troubling when you see multiple exclamation points? Maye you should see a doctor about this problem.