October 1st, 2010 
admin The U.S. obesity rates are increasing quite a bit in recent times. The Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday released a biennial report on obese Americans. The CDC obesity report said that that 2.4 million more Americans became obese from 2007 to 2009, bringing the total to 72.5 million, or 26.7 percent of the population. Each and every obese person uses about $ 1,429 more in medical costs yearly than a healthy person when the total amount spent on obesity each year is $ 147 billion. Source for this article – CDC report says obesity rates within the U.S. show alarming increase by Personal Money Store.
Obesity higher than expected
There were 3 states in 2007 that had obesity rates higher than 30 percent while now you will find nine states with that status, reports CDC. Less than 20 percent was only found in Colorado and Washington D.C.. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden explained to the New York Times that even though there have been programs like Healthy People 2010 happening, obesity has still been increasing more than it should be. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer are likely to become more common because of the increase in obesity.
Rate of obesity underestimated by CDC
The obesity numbers were probably under where the real number is considering CDC’s survey only asked people about their height and weight rather than really measuring what the numbers were. Many individuals want to be taller and lighter, so they write down numbers of what they want to be. The data was used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). An adult is considered obese with a BMI of 30 or above. 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.
Healthy Individuals 2010 didn’t work
A 1.1 percent increase in 2.4 million individuals is how numerous more are obese. In just 2001, there weren’t any states able to claim having 30 percent or more obesity, reports Health News on the CDC report. 3 states were there by 2007. By 2009 the number of states with an obesity rate of 30 percent or more had tripled to nine states. Not a single state had an obesity rate below 15 percent, the goal of Healthy People 2010, a program started in 2000 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Friedan explain that, “past efforts and investments to prevent and control obesity have not been adequate.”
America’s ‘obesogenic’ society
An “obesogenic” society is what CDC calls American lifestyles that involve eating unhealthily along with inactivity when it comes to exercising. About one 3rd of all people in this category haven’t ever seen a physician about this, reports an HHS survey.
Further reading
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/08/04/health/nutrition/04fat.html?_r=1
Health News
healthnews. com/family-health/obesity-in-america-new-cdc-report-is-grim-reminder-4388.html
CDC
CDC.
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