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Obesity rising among American adults: CDC study

Xinhua, November 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than one-third of adults and 17 percent of youth in the United States were obese in 2011-2014, a new survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Despite years of efforts to reduce obesity in America, such as First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, obesity prevalence increased among adults and youth from 1999 through 2014.

According to the study, published Thursday by the CDC' s National Center for Health Statistics, rates of obesity rose to nearly 38 percent in 2013-14, up from about 30.5 percent 15 years ago.

The prevalence of obesity was higher among women than among men overall and was lowest among non-Hispanic Asian adults compared with other racial and Hispanic origin groups. Non-Hispanic Asian primarily comprises persons of Chinese, Asian Indian, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Japanese descent

Among youth, no difference in obesity prevalence was seen between males and females, except among non-Hispanic Asian youth.

The information was taken from about 5,000 participants who were surveyed by the CDC. Obesity is defined using cut points of body mass index (BMI). The BMI does not measure body fat directly, and the relationship between BMI and body fat varies by sex, age, and many other factors.

The BMI was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, rounded to one decimal place. Obesity in adults was defined as a BMI of greater than or equal to 30. Endi