A new CDC report indicates that the prevalence of obesity among American adults increased slightly in recent years.
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More women (about 38 percent) were obese than men (about 34 percent).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the organization that conducted the study, said in a report Thursday that the obesity rate has climbed to almost 38 percent of adults, up from 32 percent about a decade earlier.
In the recent years, the USA government has launched several anti-obesity campaigns to encourage people to eat better and exercise.
The widening gap between men and women seems to be driven by what’s happening among blacks and Hispanics, said the study’s lead author, the CDC’s Cynthia Ogden. Soda consumption has dropped and fast food chains have incorporated healthier menus. Obesity was higher among women than among men overall and higher among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic adults compared with other racial and Hispanic origin groups. New federal rules, such as requiring restaurant chains to post calorie counts and banning artificial trans fats, have been adopted but not yet widely implemented.
Obesity rates for white men and white women remain very close. 6 percent of obesity among non-Hispanic Asian youth was lower than among non-Hispanic white at 14.7 percent, non-Hispanic black at 19.5 percent, and Hispanic at 21.9 percent youth. The average Hispanic woman has also gained weight, with 47 percent being obese compared to 39 percent of Hispanic men.
The report also looked at obesity in children but did not see much change. Their rate had fallen to about eight per cent in the 2011-12 survey, down from 14 per cent a decade earlier.
The CDC has said that obesity-associated health conditions – including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and a few types of cancer – are the leading causes of preventable death. The Body Mass Index, which is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters, is used as a screening tool for obesity.
If you think you are overweight or your body is not what you would like it to be, you are more likely to get obese, a new study suggests.
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According to the report’s summary, more than one-third of adults, or 37 percent, and 17 percent of youth in the country are considered obese.
