Obesity has become more prevalent than ever in the US, despite Americans planning to lose weight in 2010, reported Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday.
The number of states with an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more has tripled to nine states over two years from 2007 to 2009.
In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more.
“Obesity continues to be a major public health problem,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden in a press release. “We need intensive, comprehensive and ongoing efforts to address obesity.”
Frieden is concerned that failing to control obesity in the US will result in more Americans dying of “obesity-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of death.”
The report, State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults—United States, 2009, also found that no state met the nation’s Healthy People 2010 goal to reduce obesity prevalence to 15 percent.
The data show a 1.1 percent increase—2.4 million people—in the self-reported obesity prevalence among adults. People who are obese had medical costs that were $1,429 higher than people of normal weight.
The center collected height and weight measures from about 400,000 respondents through the phone to calculate their body mass index. An adult with a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.
The number of states with an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more has tripled to nine states over two years from 2007 to 2009.
In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more.
“Obesity continues to be a major public health problem,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden in a press release. “We need intensive, comprehensive and ongoing efforts to address obesity.”
Frieden is concerned that failing to control obesity in the US will result in more Americans dying of “obesity-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of death.”
The report, State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults—United States, 2009, also found that no state met the nation’s Healthy People 2010 goal to reduce obesity prevalence to 15 percent.
The data show a 1.1 percent increase—2.4 million people—in the self-reported obesity prevalence among adults. People who are obese had medical costs that were $1,429 higher than people of normal weight.
The center collected height and weight measures from about 400,000 respondents through the phone to calculate their body mass index. An adult with a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.
