More American adults are obese than overweight
A new milestone, reports the LA Times: There are now more obese adults than overweight adults in America. The new tally, reported in JAMA by the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, found obese 67.6 million adults and 65.2 million merely overweight.
And most adults—more than two-thirds—are overweight, leaving fewer than one-third are at a healthy weight.
Women were much more likely to be obese than overweight, with 37% of women in the former category and 30% in the latter. Altogether, two out every three women in the U.S. were above a normal weight.
The proportion of men who were obese was almost as high as women – 35%. But that figure was lower than the 40% of men who were in the overweight zone. With both groups combined, three out of four men in the U.S. exceeded a normal weight.
Being overweight increases a number of health risks, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, and certain types of cancer.
The CDC estimates the annual cost of just obesity in the United States to be $147 billion in 2008 dollars.
To watch video and see related story from Time Magazine, click on image at right.
Photo: Bill Branson, National Cancer Institute, Creative Commons.
