CDC: Over 30% of Americans Are Obese

More than 30% of Americans are obese, an increase from previous numbers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC has published an early release of its update of health estimates to quickly provide the most recent data.
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To produce these estimates, researchers analyzed data from the National Health Interview Study that was conducted from January to September 2015. The study was based on 15 measures, including obesity, health insurance coverage, and leisure-time physical activity.

Respondents to the study were adults between the ages of 18 and 64 years living in the United States, and obesity was characterized as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m² or more.

After analyzing the data, researchers found that 30.6% of adults aged 20 years and older are obese, which increased from 29.9% in 2014.

In addition, obesity is most prevalent among adults aged 40 to 59 years (34.9%). And in that age group, men are more likely to be obese than women.

When broken down by race and gender, 45.2% of black women, 33.8% of Hispanic women, and 27.8% of white women are obese; and obesity was higher among black men (34.5%) than white men (30.3%).

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Clarke TC, Ward BW, Freeman G, and Schiller JS. Early release of selected estimates based on data from the January–September 2015 national health interview survey.

National Center for Health Statistics. February 23, 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/releases/released201602.htm.