HALF OF USA WILL BECOME OBESE WITHIN DECADE

(12/20/2019)

While most studies say West Virginians are the most obese in the nation, including school age children, the problem is nationwide. Nearly half of American adults will be obese within a decade and one-quarter will be severely so, a new report predicts. The report corrects a weakness in previous estimates that might have made the problem seem not as big as it really is. Those estimates often relied on national health surveys, and people tend to understate their weight in those. The new work used a decades-long federal study in which weight was measured to get a more accurate picture of trends and to project into the future. “It’s alarming,” said a nutrition expert with no role in the study, Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins University. “We’re going to have some pretty awful problems,” medically and financially, because so many people weigh too much, he said. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study Wednesday. It was led by scientists at Harvard and George Washington universities. Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and other health problems. It’s gauged by body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. Underweight or normal is a BMI under 25; overweight is 25 to 30, moderately obese is 30 to 35 and severely obese is 35 or over. U.S. adults will be obese. In 29 states, more than half will be. Severe obesity will become the most common weight category among women (28 percent), blacks (32 percent) and low-income adults (32 percent). It might seem like a contradiction, but, often, people who can least afford food weigh the most. Severe obesity will be the most common weight category in 44 states where average annual household income is under $20,000, but in only one state where income is over $50,000. The study was funded by the JPB Foundation, which focuses on poverty and societal problems. In June, the CDC reported declining obesity rates among preschoolers on government food aid. Obesity among these young children fell from 16 percent in 2010 to around 14 percent.

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