(USA) HHS RELEASE--OBESITY ON THE RISE

[Guest guest]

October 8, 2002For Release: ImmediatelyContact: CDC/NCHS Press

Office(301) 458-4800Headline: OBESITY STILL ON THE RISE, NEW DATA SHOWObesity

continued to increase dramatically during the late 1990's forAmericans of all

ages, with nearly one-third of all adults now classified asobese, according to

new data from the 1999-2000 National Health andNutrition Examination Survey

published today in the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association.The data show

that 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over -- nearly59 million people --

have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater, comparedto 23 percent in 1994,

according to the data collected and analyzed by theNational Center for Health

Statistics (NCHS), part of HHS' Centers forDisease Control and Prevention

(CDC).Meanwhile, the percentage of children who are overweight (defined

asBMI-for-age at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC Growth Charts)

alsocontinues to increase. Among children and teens ages 6 to 19, 15

percent(almost 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999-2000 data, or

triplewhat the proportion was in 1980. " The problem keeps getting worse, " said

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. " We've seen virtually a doubling in the number

of obese persons over thepast two decades and this has profound health

implications. Obesityincreases a person's risk for a number of serious

conditions, includingdiabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and

some types ofcancer. " The findings show more adult women are obese (33 percent)

than men (28percent), with the problem greatest among non-Hispanic black women

(50percent) compared to Mexican-American women (40 percent) and

non-Hispanicwhite women (30 percent). There was practically no difference in

obesitylevels among men based on race/ethnicity.In addition, over 10 percent of

younger pre-school-aged children betweenages 2 and 5 are overweight, up from 7

percent in 1994. " One of the most significant concerns from a public health

perspective isthat we know a lot of children who are overweight grow up to be

overweightor obese adults, and thus at greater risk for some major health

problemssuch as heart disease and diabetes, " said CDC director Dr. Julie

Gerberding. " One critical answer to this problem is that we all must work

together tohelp our children make physical activity a life-long habit. " The data

on children also shows:--Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American adolescents

ages 12-19 were morelikely to be overweight (24 percent) than non-Hispanic white

adolescents (13percent).--Mexican-American children ages 6-11 were more likely

to be overweight (24percent) than non-Hispanic black children (20 percent) and

non-Hispanicwhite children (12 percent).--Pre-school-aged non-Hispanic black

children were less likely (8 percent)than younger Mexican-American children (11

percent) and non-Hispanic whitechildren (10 percent) to be overweight.In

addition, the data show that another 15 percent of children and teensages 6 to

19 are considered at risk of becoming overweight (a BMI-for-agefrom the 85th to

the 95th percentile).More information on the study is available on the CDC/NCHS

Web site atwww.cdc.gov/nchs.Note: The BMI is a single number that evaluates an

individual's weightstatus in relation to height. BMI is generally used as the

first indicatorin assessing body fat and has been the most common method of

tracking weightproblems and obesity among adults. BMI is a mathematical formula

in which aperson's body weight in kilograms is divided by the square of his or

herheight in meters (i.e., wt/(ht)2. The BMI is more highly correlated withbody

fat than any other indicator of height and weight. The criteria forobesity is

the same for both men and women. Someone who is 5'7 " is obese at192 pounds and a

person who is 5'11 " is obese at 215 pounds. More on thisat:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/index.htm###Note: All HHS press releases,

fact sheets and other press materials areavailable at www.hhs.gov/news.

 

 

 

 

 

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