New Obesity Statistics Out for the Past Decade!

All of this can be seen on the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) website:  http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/early/2012/01/11/jama.2012.40.full

Some Key Points for Adults:

1.   In 2009-2010, the age-adjusted prevalence, or amount of cases, of obesity was 35.5% among adult men and 35.8% among adult women, with no significant change compared with 2003-2008.  This means that over 1 in 3 adults in the United States are considered obese, regardless of age.

2.   In 2009-2010 the age-adjusted average BMI was 28.7 for men and also 28.7 for women.

3.    Over the 12-year period from 1999 through 2010, overall women had no significant increase of obesity rates BUT  non-Hispanic black women and Mexican American women had increases in obesity that were statistically significant.

4.    For men, there was a significant increase in obesity over the 12-year period.

Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Curtin LR.  Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999-2008. JAMA. 2010 Jan 20;303(3):235-41. Epub 2010 Jan 13.

Some Key Points for Children and Adolescents:

1.    In 2009-2010, 16.9% of children and adolescents from 2 through 19 years of age were obese.  9.7% of infants and toddlers had a high weights for their corresponding length. 

2.   There was no difference in obesity rates among males or females between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010.

3.   Between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, there was a significant increase in obesity rates in males aged 2 through 19 years.  There was no significant increase for females aged 2-19 years. 

4.   There was a significant increase in BMI among adolescent males aged 12 through 19 years but not among any other age group or among females.

Ogden, C.L., Carroll, M.D., Kit, B.K., Flegal, K.M.  Prevalence of Obesity and Trends in Body Mass Index Among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2010.  January 11, 2012, Vol 307, No. 2, pp 115-213.