{"id":47368,"date":"2017-10-13T12:30:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T12:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=47368"},"modified":"2017-10-13T12:30:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T12:30:33","slug":"nearly-4-10-u-s-adults-now-obese-cdc-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/health\/nearly-4-10-u-s-adults-now-obese-cdc-says.html","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. adults are now obese, CDC says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. adults are now obese, CDC says<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Nearly 4 in 10 U.S. adults are now obese, CDC says:- A mericans\u2019 obesity rates have reached a new high-water mark. Again.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015 and 2016, just short of 4 in 10 American adults had a body mass index that put them in obese territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, just under 2 in 10 American children \u2014 those between 2 and 19 years of age \u2014 are now considered obese as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new measure of the nation\u2019s weight problem, released early Friday by statisticians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronicles dramatic increases from the nation\u2019s obesity levels since the turn of the 21st century.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adult obesity rates have climbed steadily from a rate of 30.5% in 1999-2000 to 39.8% in 2015-2016, the most recent period for which data were available. That represents a 30% increase. Childrens\u2019 rates of obesity have risen roughly 34% in the same period, from 13.9% in 1999-2000 to 18% in 2015-2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seen against a more distant backdrop, the new figures show an even starker pattern of national weight-gain over a generation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the period between 1976 and 1980, the same national survey found that roughly 15% of adults and just 5.5% of children qualified as obese. In the time that\u2019s elapsed since \u201dSaturday Night Fever\u201d was playing in movie theaters and Ronald Reagan won the presidency, rates of obesity in the United States have nearly tripled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new report, from the CDC\u2019s National Center for Health Statistics, measures obesity according to body mass index. This is a rough measure of fatness that takes a person\u2019s weight (measured in kilograms) and divides it by their height (measured in meters) squared. For adults, those with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered to have a \u201cnormal\u201d weight. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and anything above 30 is deemed obese. (You can calculate yours here.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Obesity rates for children and teens are based on CDC growth charts that use a baseline period between 1963 and 1994. Those with a BMI above the 85th percentile are considered overweight, and those above the 95th percentile are considered obese.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report underscores a continuing pattern of racial and ethnic disparities when it comes to weight. Obesity rates among African Americans and Latinos have been consistently higher than those seen in whites, and the new survey shows no change in that pattern.<\/span><\/p>\n

In adult Latinos and non-Hispanic blacks, obesity rates for 2015-2016 were 47% and 46.8%, respectively. Some 37.9% of non-Hispanic white American adults were obese in the latest tally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among non-Hispanic Asian adults, obesity rates were at 12.9%.<\/span><\/p>\n

The racial and ethnic disparities were heavily driven by women: while white men and women were equally likely to be obese, rates of obesity in black women (54.8%) and Latinas (50.6%) were strikingly higher than among their male counterparts (36.9% and 43.1%, respectively).<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick T. Bradshaw, who studies population health at UC Berkeley, says the new statistics underscore that turning the tide on obesity will require more aggressive and targeted efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rising obesity levels \u201csuggest that we haven\u2019t been successful in efforts to reduce or prevent obesity in the population,\u201d Bradshaw said. He echoed a growing consensus among public health experts that if progress is to be made in driving down obesity rates in the population at large, campaigns may need to focus on the specific challenges faced by Latinos and African Americans \u2014 especially women \u2014 in weight management.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report does suggest a very modest measure of progress in the fight to reduce obesity rates. Compared to obesity prevalence data from 2013 and 2014, the newly reported rates do not represent a statistically significant change.<\/span><\/p>\n

BMI is widely criticized as an imperfect way to gauge an individual\u2019s health prospects. Aerobic fitness levels and waist-to-hip ratio are sometimes viewed as better measures.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the BMI\u2019s near-ubiquitous use in research on weight and disease risk has yielded unmistakable evidence of obesity\u2019s dangers. In large populations, research has shown, higher rates of obesity shorten lives and drive up the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic conditions such as diabetes and arthritis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/science\/sciencenow\/la-sci-sn-obesity-rates-us-20171012-story.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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