American Obesity overview
Overweight and obesity are rampant worldwide, and the United States of America is not aloof with it. If we look at the ground report of the USA, obesity cases are increasing alarmingly and the data of these surprise everyone. Obesity in the United States is a significant health concern, closely associated with many deadly health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, etc.
Nine Facts about obesity in the United States
1. Two-thirds of adults in the United States are obese or overweight
- In a recent survey, it was found that about 36. 5% of adults in the USA are having obesity, while 32.5 % are overweight.
- More than two-thirds of the total adult population is either obese or overweight.
2. One out of six children is obese
- About 17 per cent of American children ages 2 to 19 are having obesity.
- However, in recent years, it has been found that obesity in preschool children is decreasing.
3. States with the highest obesity rates
- The five southern states viz. West Virginia (37.7 per cent), Mississippi (37.3 per cent), Alabama (35.7 per cent), Arkansas (35.7 per cent), and Louisiana (35.5 per cent) have the highest obesity rates in the United States.
4. States with the lowest obesity rates
- Colorado has the lowest obesity rate (22.3 per cent).
- Washington, D.C., follows it (22.6 per cent) and California (25 per cent)
5. Obesity rates in all the states of the US
- All 50 states in the United States of America have obesity rates of more than 20 per cent.
6. Obesity health concerns
- The health consequences of obesity include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke, which burden the government exchequer.
- These diseases lead to the maximum number of deaths in the United States.
7. Medical cost
- The approximate medical cost for obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008.
- Since then, it has increased and cost the public and government more.
8. Obesity in the ethnic groups
- The different groups in the United States have different obesity percentages.
- Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.6 per cent) have the highest obesity percentage.
- Hispanic adults (44.8 per cent), non-Hispanic White adults (42.2 per cent), and non-Hispanic Asian adults (17.4 per cent).
9. Obesity Vs Socioeconomic Status
- A lower percentage of obesity is observed in more educated people compared to those with low education.
- Among men, the highest obesity percentage is observed in the middle-income group and lower in the lowest and the highest-income groups.
- Whereas, in the case of women, it is lower in the highest income group and higher in the middle and lowest income groups.
Obesity global statistics as per WHO
- As per WHO report, 39 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women are overweight worldwide.
- As far as obesity, 11 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women have this condition.
- 41 million children under age 5 were obese.
- 340 million children under age 5-19 are overweight or obese.
12 countries with the highest obesity rate
As per the data collected by WHO in 2016, the following countries have the highest rate of obesity in the world.
- Nauru: 61 %
- Cook Islands: 55.9 %
- Palau: 55.3 %
- Marshall Islands: 52.9%
- Tuvalu: 51.6
- Niue: 50%
- Tonga: 48.2%
- Samoa: 47.3%
- Kiribati: 46%
- Micronesia: 45.8%
- Kuwait: 37.9%
- USA: 36.2%
10 countries with the lowest obesity rate
As per the data collected by WHO in 2016, the following countries have the lowest obesity rate in the world.
- Vietnam: 2.1%
- Bangladesh: 3.6%
- Timor-Leste: 3.8%
- India: 3.9%
- Cambodia: 3.9%
- Nepal: 4.1%
- Japan: 4.3%
- Ethiopia: 4.5%
- Republic of Korea: 4.7%
- Eritrea: 5%
Top obesity Health risks statistics
- Obesity brings dozens of dreadful diseases, viz. cancer, stroke, heart disease, urinary cases, etc.
- Obesity causes more death than underweight.
- Obesity is more common in the middle ages (40-60). About 40% of cases are covered in this stage.
- Obesity is more prevalent in older women than in older men.
