Three-Quarters of U.S. Adults Are Now Overweight or Obese

A comprehensive new study has found that nearly three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese. The findings have far-reaching implications for the health and health costs of a population facing an increasing burden of weight-related diseases.

of studyThe paper, published Thursday in The Lancet, reveals that obesity rates nationwide have risen alarmingly since 1990, when just over half of adults were overweight or obese, and that obesity rates are rising alarmingly at younger ages than ever before. It shows how more and more people are becoming overweight or obese. Both conditions can increase your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and shorten your life expectancy.

The authors of this study documented increasing rates of overweight and obesity across age groups. They are particularly alarmed by the surge in children, more than one in three of whom are overweight or obese. They predict that without active intervention, the number of overweight and obese people will continue to rise, reaching nearly 260 million by 2050.

“I consider this an epidemic,” said Marie Ng, an associate professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine and co-author of the new paper.

Dr Ng and his co-authors said existing policies are not sufficient to deal with the crisis, adding that “major reforms” are needed to prevent it from worsening.

“This problem needs more attention and more investment than we are currently giving it,” said Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a professor of pediatrics and population health sciences at Duke University who was not involved in the study. It will be,” he said.