Scope of Obesity Problem in the United States Among Adults (aged ≥18)

According to an April 2007 publication by the RAND Corporation, researchers have found that obesity in the US population has been increasing steadily over the past 2 decades, and severe obesity is increasing the fastest.¹⁵

Overall prevalence¹⁶ :

• 127 million adults are overweight (64.5%)
• 60 million adults are obese (30.5%)
• 9 million adults are severely obese (4.7%, up from 2.9% reported in the 1988-1994 National Health and Nutrition Survey)

Age¹⁶:

• Overweight and obesity increase steadily with age for both men and women
• Highest prevalence of overweight and obesity:
• Men 65 to 74 years
• Women 55 to 64 years

Gender¹⁶:

• Obesity was not clearly gender related:
• More overweight men (67%) than women (62%)
• More obese women (34%) than men (27.7%)
• More severely obese women (6.3%) than men (3.1%)

Race/ethnicity¹⁶:

• Non-hispanic African Americans and Mexican American adults in the US are considerably more overweight and obese than white (non-Hispanic) adults