The U.S. obesity rates are increasing quite a bit in recent times. The Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday released a biennial report on obese Americans. Apparently 2.4 million more people were put within the obese category between 2007 and 2009 which means there is a total of 74.4 million, or 26.7 percent of obese Americans. About $ 147 billion are spent on people who are obese in medical expenses while $ 1,429 more is spent on an obese person yearly than a healthy person.
U.S. obesity rates increase faster than expected
There were 3 states in 2007 that had obesity rates higher than 30 percent while now there are nine states with that status, reports CDC. Washington D.C. also as Colorado both had less than 20, although they were the only states to do so. Obesity has been getting larger than it was expected to be at by now even with programs like Healthy People 2010 that discourage this, explains Dr. Thomas Frieden to the New York Times. Frieden said if the numbers keep going up, more people will get sick and die from the complications of obesity, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
CDC obesity rates likely underestimated
As the CDC used a survey where they asked 400,000 individuals what their height and weight was instead of measuring, which means the numbers that were received were probably too low. The Times noted that people tend to describe themselves as taller and lighter than they really are. After getting this information, the body mass index, or BMI, was calculated for all of them. Being over 30 with a BMI score means obesity the majority of the time. An example of someone with a BMI at 30 would be a woman who weighs 174 pounds and is 5-foot-4 or a man who weighs 209 but is 5-foot-10.
Un-working Healthy Individuals 2010
A 1.1 percent increase in 2.4 million individuals is how numerous more are obese. Health News explains about the CDC obesity reports that a 30 percent or higher obesity rate didn’t exist in any state in 2001. 3 states were there by 2007. By 2009 there were 9 states. Not a single state had an obesity rate below 15 percent, the goal of Healthy Individuals 2010, a program began in 2000 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It was said by Friedan that, “past efforts and investments to prevent and control obesity have not been adequate.”
Now U.S. is becoming ‘obesogenic’
Most individuals eat too much food that isn’t healthy as well as avoiding exercise in the CDC’s “obesogenic” society. An HHS survey released earlier this year stated that one-third of obese adults and most children never received advice from a doctor about healthy eating and exercise.
Further reading
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/08/04/health/nutrition/04fat.html?_r=1
Health News
healthnews.com/family-health/obesity-in-america-new-cdc-report-is-grim-reminder-4388.html
CDC
cdc.gov/obesity/
