Two-thirds of American are currently overweight, exposing most of the country's population to serious health conditions, according to a new study.
Graham A. Colditz and Lin Yang, from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, collected the latest data from the National Health Nutrition Examination Survey to determine the prevalence of excess weight and obesity in the United States,
according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Their study was published on Monday in the science publication JAMA Internal Medicine.
That data on 15,208 men and women showed 40 percent of the men being overweight and 35 percent obese, and nearly 30 percent of the women overweight and nearly 37 percent more obese.
"Clearly this is not a decline in the rate of weight gain and obesity," said Yang, a post-doctoral fellow in the university's school of medicine. "All the guidelines show we can improve weight maintenance through physical activity and healthy eating, but these strategies are not widely practiced. We need to accelerate obesity prevention and treatment."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the study revealed that African-Americans suffered from the greatest rates of obesity among both men (39 percent) and women (57 percent). The researchers said 17 percent of black women and 7 percent of black men were found to be extremely obese – a body mass index of more than 40.
The study found that 38 percent of Mexican-American men were obese and 43 percent of women were as well, noted the Times. It also found that 35 percent of white men and 34 percent of white women were obese.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey report did not contain any data on Asian-Americans because the group had been under-sampled in the past.
"This is a wake-up call to implement policies and practices designed to combat overweight and obesity," said Yang.
Colditz, chief of the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University, wrote with Yang that such policies should encourage more physical activity and healthful diets.