America’s obesity epidemic has to be some sort of marker of the nation’s character. All kinds of excuses can be made, but many Americans suffer from a complete lack of self-control. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:
40% of American adults are obese, a sharp increase from a decade earlier and a record high. according to federal health officials.
A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sampling of 27,449 adults with a BMI between 30 and 40 found that among those aged 20 years and older, obesity went from 33.7% in 2007-2008 to 39.6% in 2015-2016. Severe obesity – those with a BMI above 40, jumped from 5.7% to 7.7% over the same period.
The increase in obesity among the 16,875 youth sampled was much lower, going from 16.8% a decade ago to 18.5% in 2015-2016. Still pretty bad.
For reference, this kid was considered fat in 1985…
National trends
The CDC has prepared handy list of statistics as well as maps of average obesity by state, as well as by race. In a nutshell, the south is a hotbed of obesity.
Of note:
- Obesity decreased by level of education. Adults without a high school degree or equivalent had the highest self-reported obesity
- Young adults were half as likely to have obesity as middle-aged adults.
Obesity Prevalence in 2016 Varies Across States and Territories
- All states had more than 20% of adults with obesity.
- 35% or more adults had obesity in 5 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia).
- The South had the highest prevalence of obesity (32.0%), followed by the Midwest (31.4%), the Northeast (26.9%), and the West (26.0%).
To continue reading: American Adults Have Never Been Fatter
