U.S. obesity rates level off: government study

U.S. obesity rates level off: government study
Pedestrians walk across the street near Times Square in New York August 28 2007. After 25 years of successive increases, obesity rates in the United States are holding steady, government health officials said on Wednesday. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)CHICAGO (Reuters) - After 25 years of successive increases,obesity rates in the United States are holding steady,government health officials said on Wednesday.
But Americans are still plenty fat, with more than a thirdof U.S. adults found to be obese in 2005-2006, according to areport by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That amounts to about 72 million people in the UnitedStates, about the same as a 2003-2004 report.
"What we can be optimistic about is we haven't seen a giantincrease in the last couple of years," said Cynthia Ogden, anepidemiologist for the CDC's National Center for HealthStatistics. "But we aren't seeing any decrease, that's forsure."
The CDC defines obesity as a body mass index -- calculatedfrom a person's weight and height -- of 30 or greater.
Ogden said women in the past were more likely to be obesethan men, but that picture appears to have changed.
"It's a different story for men and women," she said in atelephone interview. "It used to be that women were more likelyto be obese than men. Now, that is not true anymore."
Ogden said obesity rates in women have changed little sincethe 1999-2000 survey, but obesity rates in men have continuedto rise. "Men are catching up to women," she said.
About 35.3 percent of women and 33.3 percent of men wereconsidered obese in the 2005-2006 survey, which isstatistically about even.
RACIAL, ETHNIC DISPARITIES
Obesity was most common among adults aged 40 to 59. About40 percent of men in this age range were obese versus 28percent of men 20 to 39.
Some 41 percent of women 40 to 59 were obese, compared with30.5 percent of women in the 20 to 39 age range.
While obesity rates appear to be leveling off, the reportshows that Americans on the whole are heavier, and people whoare the fattest are much heavier than they were in 1980.
The researchers also found widespread racial and ethnicdisparities.
Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American women have higherrates of obesity than non-Hispanic white women. About 53percent of black women and 51 percent of Mexican-American womenaged 40 to 59 were obese, compared with 39 percent of whitewomen of the same age.
And doctors still seem to consider obesity a delicatesubject, the report found, with just 65 percent of obese peoplereporting that their doctors or other health providers evertold them they were overweight.
Doctors also seem more inclined to let men off the hook,with more women than men reporting they had been told they weretoo fat by a health provider, Ogden said.
That is an important message because obesity can lead to ahost of health problems, including heart disease, some cancersand type 2 diabetes.(Editing by Will Dunham and Xavier Briand)