Survey: 42% of US Adults Are Obese
About 4 in 10 American adults are obese, and nearly 1 in 10 is severely so, say researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The results come from a 2017-18 health survey that measured height and weight. More than 5,000 US adults took part.
The survey found that the obesity rate was 42% – higher than the 40% found in a 2015-16 study. The severe obesity rate was more than 9% in the new survey, up from 8% in the previous one.
A half-century ago, about 1 in 100 American adults were severely obese. Now it's 10 times more common. The obesity rate has risen about 40% in the last two decades.
The results suggest that more Americans will get diabetes, heart disease and cancer, said Dr. William Dietz, a George Washington University obesity expert. It will also be more difficult for doctors to care for so many severely obese people, Dietz said.
The CDC did not report new obesity numbers for kids and teens. In 2015-16, 18.5% of kids and teens were obese and just under 6% were severely obese.
Dietz faulted the government for not pushing for more measures to promote physical activity and better eating. Building more sidewalks and creating a national tax on sugary drinks could make a big difference, he said.
Obesity – which means not just overweight, but seriously overweight – is considered one of America's biggest public health problems.
A person who is 163 centimeters tall, the average height for US women, is considered obese at a weight of 79 kilograms and severely obese above 105 kilograms. A person who is 175 centimeters tall, about the average height for men, is obese at 92 kilograms and severely obese at 123 kilograms.
