And the Harvard School of Public Health says in 2005 — even when the women’s rate was lower — the US spent $190 billion on health care expenses stemming from obesity.
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Bartolome Burguera, M.D., of Cleveland Clinic did not take part in the study, but said the results highlight the growing obesity epidemic in the U.S.
People are considered overweight when their BMI hits 25, and they are obese when it gets to 30.
The number of adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher, which is considered high-risk obesity, was 7.7%.
Obesity expert Dr. Louis Aronne said women may be genetically programmed for weight gain.
More than 2,600 men and 2,800 women’s data was evaluated in the study and the researchers noted that the obesity rate amongst women particularly increased and the obesity rate among men remained the same. But for women, the obesity rate grew from 35.7 percent to 40.5 percent, which the researchers dubbed a “significant linear trend between 2005 and 2014”.
Analysis from the study suggests that the increasing obesity in teens and women isn’t related to changes in U.S. demographics such as race, ethnicity, or income, or changes in lifestyle habits like smoking. The prevalence of obesity among Caucasian women is 27.2 per cent compared to 30.2 per cent among Caucasian men. The recent reports suggest that both men and women in United States are struggling badly to maintain the same rate. The other says that 17 percent of children and teens were obese as well, including almost 6 percent who were morbidly obese. The corresponding prevalence of class 3 (BMI 40 or greater) obesity overall was 7.7 percent; among men, it was 5.5 percent; and among women, it was 9.9 percent.
Efforts to encourage Americans to lose weight have achieved precious little, the research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
– Women with an education beyond high school were significantly less likely to be obese.
The increase in obesity for women, or even the lack of a decrease for men, could be troubling, considering how much money has been spent on campaigns against it.
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In general, three decades of fighting obesity in the United States have not been successful, the authors wrote. The rate of severe obesity among USA men also did not change significantly during the study period, and was at 5.5 percent in 2013-2014. “However, few data suggest the epidemic is diminishing”, they added.
