30% of Americans Are Obese

Oct. 8, 2002 -- We've heard it before -- Americans are getting fatter. And a new report shows that our growing size is a national health crisis we can't ignore. New government figures show almost one in three American adults is obese and well over half are overweight. And an alarming number of kids, even toddlers, are packing on too many pounds.

The findings -- from a government survey conducted from 1999-2000 -- suggest that obesity has increased steadily in the U.S. for the last two decades. The results appear in the Oct. 9 issue of TheJournal of the American Medical Association.

Just over 30% of adults were considered obese in the new survey, compared with 23% in a previous survey conducted from 1988-1994. The percentage of Americans who were overweight increased from 56% to 64%, and the rate of extreme obesity increased from roughly 3% to almost 5%.

Body mass index, or BMI, is used by doctors to determine if someone is overweight or obese. Generally speaking, it is an excellent tool -- accurate for just about everyone except extremely muscular people, such as bodybuilders.

A person with a BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight. Obesity and extreme obesity are defined as a BMI of 30 or more, and 40 or more, respectively.

A 5'5" person would be considered overweight at 150 pounds, and obese at 180 pounds. A 6' tall person would be considered overweight at 185 pounds and obese at 220.

Obesity among adults increased by almost 8% during the 1990s, after rising by almost the same amount during the 1980s, NCHS epidemiologist Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, tells WebMD.

"This is definitely a continuing trend," she says. "These figures suggest that the problem of obesity and overweight continue to get worse in the U.S., and it is happening for every age, sex, and ethnic group."

Increases occurred for both men and women in all age groups and ethnic backgrounds, but some groups saw larger increases than others. Among women, increases were highest among blacks, with half considered obese and close to 80% considered overweight.

Among children, 15% of those between ages 6 and 19 were overweight, compared with roughly 11% in the previous survey. The problem was even worse among black and Mexican-American adolescents -- by more than 10%.

The researchers say that while the potential health benefits from lowering the rate of obesity are great, reversing the trend will be difficult. The problem's urgency was illustrated late last year when U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher issued a statement calling obesity one of the "most pressing new health challenges that we face today." He noted that being overweight causes as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking.