More than one-in-four Americans are obese, CDC says

WASHINGTON—The so-called U.S. obesity epidemic continues to grow as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported July 17 that the number of obese American adults increased by nearly 2 percent between 2005 and 2007.

An estimated 25.6 percent of U.S. adults reported being obese in 2007, which is a 1.7 percent increase over 2005, according to the July 17 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In 2000, the prevalence was 19.8 percent. In 1995, it was 15.3 percent.

More than 350,000 adults were interviewed by the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the study. The CDC calculated the body mass index of each person based on self-reported information. BMI is calculated using height and weight; BMI = weight (kg)/height (m²).

Obesity is defined as a BMI greater than 30. For example, a 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weight 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30.

“The epidemic of adult obesity continues to rise in the United States indicating that we need to step up our efforts at the national, state and local levels,” Dr. William Dietz, director of the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, said in a news release. “We need to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables, engage in more physical activity and reduce the consumption of high caloric foods and sugar sweetened beverages in order to maintain a healthy weight.”

States don’t meet goals

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established Health People 2010 to promote health and disease prevention. One of the 28 goals to be achieved by 2010 is to get obesity prevalence below 15 percent. According to the CDC report, none of the 50 states or the District of Columbia currently meet that goal.

By region, the South had the highest prevalence of obesity at 27 percent. In Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese. The percentage of obese adults was 25.3 percent in the Midwest, 23.3 in the Northeast and 22.1 percent in the West. Colorado had the lowest prevalence of obesity at 18.7 percent.