Thursday, October 17, 2013

35% Are Obese

The good news is that obesity has not increased in the past few years. The bad news is that more than one-third of American adults are not just overweight, but obese. These are the latest findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures the height and weight of a representative sample of Americans to determine weight status.

In all, 79 million adults were obese in 2011-12, defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher. Obesity peaks among 40-to-59-year-olds at 39.5 percent. It is a slightly lower 30.3 percent among 20-to-39-year-olds. Among people aged 60 or older, 35.4 percent are obese.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Prevalence of Obesity among Adults: United States, 2011-2012

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