Despite Encouragement To Eat Better, Obesity Rises Among U.S. Adults
Despite Encouragement To Eat Better, Obesity Rises Among U.S. Adults
The number of obese Americans is up, especially for middle-aged adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 36 percent of adults and 17 percent of youth under 19 are obese.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have a partial explanation this morning for why it's taking so long to improve obesity rates in this country. The Centers for Disease Control released new numbers this week. In recent years, about 36 percent of adults were found to be obese. That is more than one-third of adult Americans. These numbers come despite years of efforts by health officials to encourage healthier eating and healthier lifestyles. NPR's Allison Aubrey has been looking into this. Hi, Allison.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: How much worse is obesity than it used to be?
AUBREY: Well, you know, it seems as a country, we're just kind of stuck. Overall, adult obesity rates have continued to inch up over the last decade, even with all this drum beating to eat healthier and get more exercise, though a note of optimism here. The CDC found that in the last two years of its analysis, the changes were so slight that they were not statistically significant, so maybe the beginning of a leveling off.
INSKEEP: Maybe. Now I suppose it's no surprise that people in middle age had a special problem here. They are, as a group, even more obese. But what happens when you slice and dice other parts of the population? What do you find?
AUBREY: Well, the authors of this new analysis point to a rise in obesity among middle-aged adults. So that's us, Steve, people in their 40s and 50s. Now if you break it down by sex, it's women who have the highest prevalence, Forty-two percent are obese. Now if you dig deeper, the authors of the study point to an issue with minority women. The report puts the obesity rate for Hispanic women at 46 percent and 57 percent among black women.
INSKEEP: Wow, well, that does raise a question, though. Why would public health efforts not gain more traction in this age when the first lady of the United States make this a big deal?
AUBREY: Right.
INSKEEP: And there are federal efforts in this area, state and local...
AUBREY: Massive efforts, right.
AUBREY: ...Efforts in this area, and grocery store chains that are built around this idea of better eating.
AUBREY: Absolutely, and lots of reason policy changes, too, I mean, for instance, a federal law requiring that fast food chains and chain restaurants post calories on their menus. But you know what, Steve? Change takes time. I mean, these things are way too new to show any kind of, you know, measurable payoff. We're talking about turning around decades of ingrained behavior, so no one expects to see change overnight. It may take an entire generation, and that's why a lot of these efforts are focused on kids. If you look at, for instance, low-income mothers through the WIC program are getting access to nutritious foods. In many places, there's counseling, there's coaching, all kinds of things to help them eat better and help their children eat better. There's also big continued efforts to make school lunches healthier, so a lot of focus on changing the eating habits among the youngest Americans.
INSKEEP: Well, these statistics we quoted were for adults. How are kids doing that?
AUBREY: Well, actually, the picture is a little more promising for young people. Far fewer youth are obese than adults. The overall rate of obesity among two to 19-year-olds - that's a big span - is about 17 percent, so about half of the rate of adults. And as we've reported over the last two years, obesity rates among preschoolers, so the youngest Americans, have been declining in many states around the country. Now when this was first documented two summers ago, it was marked as a huge deal. The CDC director Tom Frieden came out, called it a tipping point after, you know, decades of study increases. And I think these numbers out today support the finding that the picture seems to be improving certainly for the youngest Americans but also maybe for adolescents, too.
INSKEEP: Allison, thanks very much.
AUBREY: Thanks very much, Steve.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Allison Aubrey.
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More Women Than Men Are Obese In America, And Gap Is Widening
Obesity prevalence among women in their 40s and 50s has risen to 42 percent since 1999-2000, the CDC found. For middle-aged men, the rate is 38 percent. iStockphoto hide caption
Obesity prevalence among women in their 40s and 50s has risen to 42 percent since 1999-2000, the CDC found. For middle-aged men, the rate is 38 percent.
iStockphotoThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has crunched new numbers on America's obesity epidemic. What do they tell us? As a nation, we seem to be stuck.
The overall prevalence of obesity in the three-year period ending 2014 was just over 36 percent. This mean that about 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. is obese.
But if you're a silver-linings kind of person, there's this: After decades of increases, obesity rates do seem to be flattening out.
The CDC says the changes in the prevalence of adult obesity were so slight between 2011 and 2014 (the most recent data available) that they were not statistically significant.
And another note of optimism: The CDC finds childhood obesity has leveled off. In many states, as we've reported, obesity rates are falling among preschool-aged kids.
Health advocates say that's a sign of progress.
"We are excited to see that our nationwide efforts to prevent childhood obesity have stopped the decades-long increase in childhood obesity rates," said Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, in a statement.
But he adds, "it is imperative that we double down on our efforts to go beyond flattening the rates so that we actually start decreasing childhood obesity rates."
If you dig into the data a little deeper, it's clear that middle-aged Americans are not as successful at avoiding weight gain — especially middle-aged women.
The prevalence of obesity among women in their 40s and 50s has risen to 42 percent since 1999-2000. That's higher than the 38 percent the CDC found for middle-aged men. Across all adult age groups, about 38 percent of women are obese, while 34 percent of men were obese.
Study author and CDC epidemiologist Cynthia Ogden says these gender differences are a new development. "This hasn't been the case for some years," Ogden says.
And, the divide becomes even greater for some women of color. The obesity rate among African-American women is 57 percent and 46 percent among Hispanic women.
"The biggest problem is that the obesity rates among low-income Americans and minorities are not improving," says obesity expert Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina.
The medical and economic toll of this problem remains huge as well. According to Health Affairs, the obesity epidemic carries a $117 billion medical pricetag.