Study: Obese Americans now outnumber the overweight

OBESE American adults now outnumber those who are merely overweight, according to a new report in the JAMA Internal Medicine health journal.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over the age of 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight. They counted based on data collected between 2007 and 2012, as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The NHANES data included information on height and weight, which calculate a person’s body mass index (BMI). A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI range of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI over 30 qualifies a person as obese.

According to the study, women were much more likely to be obese (37 percent) than overweight (30 percent). Altogether, two out of every three women in the US were above a normal weight.

The proportion of men who were obese was almost as high as women—35 percent—but lower than the 40 percent of men who were overweight. With both groups combined, three out of four men in the US exceeded a normal weight.

African Americans had the highest rates of obesity among both men (39%) and women (57%). Researchers found that 17 percent of black women and 7 percent were extremely obese, with a BMI over 40.

Of Mexican Americans, 38 percent of men and 43 percent of women were obese. For whites, 35 percent of men and 34 percent of women were obese. No data were reported for Asian Americans, who had been vastly undersampled in NHANES surveys.

Rates of overweight and obesity were comparable for younger (ages 25 to 54) and older (55 and up) adults, according to the study.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of a variety of chronic health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Extra weight can also make people more vulnerable to certain types of cancer. The more you weigh, the greater the health risk, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute said.  (with reports from Los Angeles Times)