Obesity Report Shows Weight of Americans Peaks Just
Before Becoming Senior Citizens
Obesity continues to increase in U.S.: CDC report says no
state has met 2010 national goal of 15% adult obesity
Aug. 4, 2010 – Obesity is continuing to increase in
the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention that focuses on obesity in each state. There is an
interesting curve in this report of self-declarations of obesity that
indicates Americans tend to peak in weight somewhere in their early 60s,
just before they become senior citizens at age 65. It is then a rather
rapid decline in weight as we move into old age.
‘Participants with a greater than 4 inch increase in
waist size from baseline to the third follow-up visit had a 70 percent
higher risk of type 2 diabetes…’
People who survive to 70 in reasonable health have
different set of risks and benefits associated with the amount of body
fat to younger people; study questions current BMI guidelines for older
adults
About the same percentage of seniors age 70 or
older claim to be obese as do the youngest adults – those age 18 to 29.
The overall estimated prevalence of obesity was
26.7%. Obesity prevalence varied substantially by selected
characteristics, with the greatest prevalences found among adults aged
50--59 and 60--69 years (31.1% and 30.9%, respectively), non-Hispanic
blacks overall (36.8%), non-Hispanic black women (41.9%), Hispanics
(30.7%), and residents of the Midwest (28.2%) and South (28.4%).
(See table below, right)
For both men (22.9%) and women (18.6%), obesity
prevalence was smallest among those with a college education; overall,
prevalence was greatest among those who did not graduate from high
school (32.9%), with a prevalence of 29.6% among men and 36.4% among
women.
The number of states with an obesity prevalence of
30 percent or more has tripled in two years to nine states in 2009,
according to the CDC Vital Signs report. In 2000, no state had an
obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more. The report, "State-Specific
Obesity Prevalence Among Adults – United States, 2009," also finds no
state met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity
prevalence to 15 percent.
The data show a 1.1 percentage point increase - an
additional 2.4 million people - in the self-reported prevalence of
obesity between 2007 and 2009 among adults aged 18 and over.
The report also notes the medical costs associated
with obesity are high. In 2008 dollars, medical costs associated with
obesity were estimated at $147 billion. People who are obese had medical
costs that were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight, the report
said.
"Obesity continues to be a major public health
problem," said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "We need
intensive, comprehensive and ongoing efforts to address obesity. If we
don't more people will get sick and die from obesity-related conditions
such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of
cancer, some of the leading causes of death."
The August Vital Signs report is based on new data
from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). BRFSS
contains state-level public health data and provides a way for states to
monitor progress toward Healthy People goals. To assess obesity
prevalence, approximately 400,000 phone survey respondents were asked to
provide their height and weight, which was used to calculate their body
mass index (BMI).
An adult is considered obese if he or she has a BMI
of 30 or above. For example, a 5-foot-4 woman who weighs 174 pounds or
more, or a 5-foot-10 man who weighs 209 pounds or more has a BMI of 30,
and so is considered obese.
The BRFSS obesity data are underestimates of true
obesity prevalence.
Research has found that both men and women often
say they are taller than they actually are and women often say they
weigh less than they do in telephone surveys.
TABLE.
Self-reported prevalence of obesity* among adults, by sex and
selected characteristics --- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System, United States, 2009
Overall
Men
Women
Characteristic
%
%
%
Total
26.7
27.4
26.0
Age group (yrs)
18--29
20.3
20.1
20.6
30--39
27.8
29.4
26.2
40--49
29.4
31.0
27.8
50--59
31.1
31.9
30.3
60--69
30.9
30.4
31.3
≥70
20.5
19.8
21.0
Race/Ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic
25.2
27.1
23.3
Black, non-Hispanic
36.8
30.9
41.9
Hispanic
30.7
30.6
30.8
Other race
16.7
16.9
16.5
Educational level
Less than high school graduate
32.9
29.6
36.4
High school graduate
29.5
29.5
29.5
Some college
29.1
30.6
27.9
College graduate
20.8
22.9
18.6
Census region§
Northeast
24.3
25.2
23.4
Midwest
28.2
29.2
27.2
South
28.4
28.8
28.1
West
24.4
25.1
23.7
*
Body mass index (BMI) ≥30.0; BMI was calculated from
self-reported weight and height (weight [kg] / height [m]2).
As a result, according to
William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of CDC's Division of Nutrition,
Physical Activity and Obesity, the overall BRFSS obesity prevalence
estimate of 26.7 percent is 7.2 percentage points lower than the
national 2007-2008 estimate of 33.9 percent (nearly 73 million people)
from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, for which
individuals' height and weight were measured rather than self-reported.
The BRFSS data highlight how obesity affects some
populations more than others. The highest prevalence was found among
non-Hispanic blacks overall, whose rate was 36.8 percent, and
non-Hispanic black women, whose rate was 41.9 percent. The rate for
Hispanics was 30.7 percent. The rate among all non-high school graduates
was 32.9 percent. Obesity prevalence was also higher in some regions
than others. The South had an obesity prevalence of 28.4 percent while
the Midwest had a prevalence of 28.2 percent.
"Obesity is a complex problem that requires both
personal and community action," said Dr. Dietz. "People in all
communities should be able to make healthy choices, but in order to make
those choices there must be healthy choices to make. We need to change
our communities into places where healthy eating and active living are
the easiest path."
The federal government is intensifying its efforts
to reduce and prevent obesity through new initiatives such as the First
Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to address childhood obesity
and the Communities Putting Prevention to Work program.
The CPPW program
provides guidance and funding to states and communities to change state
and local environments and policies related to diet and physical
activity.
CDC Vital Signs is a new report that will appear on
the first Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Vital Signs is designed to provide the
latest data and information on key health indicators – cancer
prevention, obesity, tobacco use, alcohol use, access to health care,
HIV/AIDS, motor vehicle passenger safety, health care-association
infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, infant mortality,
asthma and food safety.
Links to More on Senior
Citizens and Obesity in SeniorJournal.com Archives
With the metric system, the
formula for BMI is weight in
kilograms divided by height
in meters squared. Since
height is commonly measured
in centimeters, divide
height in centimeters by 100
to obtain height in meters.
Example: Weight = 68 kg,
Height = 165 cm (1.65 m)
Calculation: 68 ÷ (1.65)2
= 24.98
Aug. 4, 2010 – Obesity is continuing to increase in
the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention that focuses on obesity in each state. There is an
interesting curve in this report of self-declarations of obesity that
indicates Americans tend to peak in weight somewhere in their early 60s,
just before they become senior citizens at age 65. It is then a rather
rapid decline in weight as we move into old age.
More
About BMI