Story at a glance
- A CDC report from 2017-2018 found that just over 40 percent of U.S. adults are considered obese.
- The researchers used BMIs from approximately 5,000 American participants as a representative population.
- Obesity rates have generally been rising since 1999.
A new government survey found that approximately 4 in 10 American adults are obese, with nearly 1 in 10 being severely obese.
The report was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and released Thursday. The data was collected during 2017-2018, recording the height and weight of participants to get an average American Body Mass Index (BMI). Approximately 5,000 U.S. adults were surveyed.
The BMI measurement calculates an individual’s height to weight ratio to gauge the level of body fat. A BMI of 30 or higher falls within the obese range, and a BMI above 40 is considered severely obese, according to CDC definitions.
Results indicated that 42 percent of participants were obese, just slightly higher than the 40 percent recorded in a 2015-2016 study.
Participants who were found to be severely overweight rose to more than 9 percent, after recording 8 percent in the previous survey.
Obesity appeared more prevalent across certain racial groups, with black American adults reporting a 49.6 percent obesity rate, and Hispanic and non-Hispanic adults following with rates above 40 percent. Asian participants reported the lowest adult obesity rate with 17.4 percent, the CDC found.
Obesity rates have steadily risen since 1999, according to historical data from the CDC, with a slight dip in 2011-2012. The recent report stated that the newest data may not be statistically significant, as the small increases do not deviate far from previous results.
Similar data shows the prevalence of obesity rising on average as well since 1999, with its occurrence in U.S. adults who are 20 or older rising significantly from 30 percent to 38 percent over a 15 year period.
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