Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

staying healthy in the fast lane

These trends, along with a marked decrease in physical activ-
ity, can lead to only one thing: increased weight—and lots of it.
The good news is that after a quarter-century of increases, obesity
prevalence has not measurably increased in the past few years.
The bad news is that obesity levels are still high: 34 percent of
U.S. adults aged twenty and over. There is a greater percentage of
Americans overweight than obese (34.2 percent vs. 33.8 percent).
In addition, we now have a new weight category—the extremely
obese (> 40 BMI) at 5.7 percent of the population (overweight > 25
BMI; obese >30 BMI).^8 If you add these totals up, over 70 percent
of the U.S. population has an excess weight problem!

NOTE: Age-adjusted by the direct method to the year 2000 U.S. Census Bureau estimates,

using the age groups 20-39, 40-59, and 60-74 years. Pregnant females were excluded.

Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater but less than 30;

obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30; extreme obesity is a BMI greater than or

equal to 40.

SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Health Examination Survey cycle I (1960-1962); National

Health and Nurition Examination Survey I (1971-1974), II (1976-1980), and III (1988-

1994), 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006, and 2007-2008.

Cynthia Ogden and Margaret Carroll, Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme

Obesity Among Adults: United States, Trends 1976–1980 Through 2007–2008. Division of

Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention.