No Real Increase In Obesity Among Adults

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) — After a quarter century of increases, obesity prevalence has not measurably increased in the past few years but levels are still high – at 34 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and over, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Obesity rates have increased over the past 25 years. Among men, there was an increase in obesity prevalence between 1999 and 2006. However, there was no significant change in obesity prevalence between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 for either men or women.

“Since 1999, there appears to have been a leveling off in obesity among women, but the trend is less clear among men. We do know however that the gap between men and women has narrowed in recent years, with men catching up to the higher rates among women,” said Cynthia Ogden, a CDC researcher and lead author of the study.

The study found:

• More than a third of U.S. adults – over 72 million people -- were obese in 2005-2006. This includes 33.3 percent of men and 35.3 percent of women. The figures show no statistically significant change from 2003-04, when 31.1 percent of men were obese and 33.2 percent of women were obese.

• Adults aged 40 to 59 had the highest obesity prevalence compared with other age groups. Approximately 40 percent of men in this age group were obese, compared with 28 percent of men aged 20-39, and 32 percent of men aged 60 and older.

ScienceDaily is indeed a great site Dave....chock full of interesting WLS research. Thanks again for the link.

Boner