U.S. Obesity Rate Remains Same Over Decade
According to the CDC, the number of obese people in the United States has remained relatively the same as 10 years ago.
In 2009, the CDC said that nearly 36 percent of adults and 17 percent of children were considered obese. These high obesity rates have stayed constant. These numbers have only increased slightly since the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Rates Of Obesity Based On Race, Age and Gender
Cynthia Ogden and her colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that up to 36 percent of men and women was obese. Now, the obesity rates in men are similar, regardless of the race. However, women, the study found is completely different. Just 32 percent of white women were considered obese with 59 percent of black women considered obese. 14 percent of white children are considered obese with 25 percent of black kids being obese.
Dr. Youfa Wang, head of Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity said the news wasn’t surprising but encouraging given the efforts being made to reduce obesity. Wang said the public understands the health consequences that come along with being obese.
During the 1980s and 1990s, obesity rates skyrocketed with many researchers projecting that the trend would continue. They also concluded that more cases of heart disease and type 2 diabetes would be diagnosed.
Ogden said the good news is that there were no increases but the bad news is there were no decreases in any one of the groups.
Amika Singh from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam said it was really too early to get any conclusions on a worldwide scale. Singh said that even though obesity levels have remained even, the numbers are still very high. She was not involved in the latest research.
Ogden said it is unknown why the obesity rate hasn’t changed in the U.S. because there are a number of factors that influence it. Wang said the efforts by First Lady Michelle Obama to fight childhood obesity could be the reason, as more funding has been thrown at the cause for both researching and preventing obesity.
The government has set a healthy BMI weight between 18 and 25. The BMI index is a ratio of height to weight.
The CDC research can be seen in the recent Journal of the American Medical Association.
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