75% of Americans to be overweight by 2015

[Bond]

Obese America: 75pc overweight by 2015

More than three quarters of American adults will be overweight by 2015, a survey has found.

Nearly 24 per cent of US children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2015
A further 41 per cent will be obese if people continue to gain weight at the current rate, according to the study by Johns Hopkins University.

The team of researchers based in Baltimore looked at national surveys of weight and behaviour as well as examining 20 studies in academic journals.

Their research, published in the Journal of Epidemiological Reviews, also predicted that obesity would soon become the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

Dr Youfa Yang who led the study said: "Obesity is a public health crisis. If the rate of obesity and overweight continues at this pace, by 2015, 75 per cent of adults and nearly 24 per cent of US children and adolescents will be overweight or obese.

"Every group is steadily getting heavier."

May Beydoun, one of the researchers involved in the study, said: "Obesity is likely to continue to increase, and if nothing is done, it will soon become the leading preventable cause of death in the United States."

The study defined "overweight" and "obese" using the medical definition the Body Mass Index (BMI) which is found by dividing a person's weight in kilos by their height in metres squared.

Under the classification, those with a BMI of 25 or above are considered "overweight" while those with BMIs of 30 or above are "obese" and considered to be at serious risk of heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancers.

The latest figures show that two thirds of adults and 16 per cent of children and adolescents in the US are currently overweight.

Black women are much more prone to the condition with an alarming 80 per cent aged 40 or over classified overweight and 50 per cent obese.

The United States is the most overweight country in the world and the soaring levels of obesity have been attributed to a poor diet of junk food and fizzy drinks as well as lack of exercise.

In Britain the figures are considerably lower but health experts are warning that the country is now on the brink of an obesity epidemic.

Around a quarter of British adults are obese while the proportion of obese children rose by more than 40 per cent between 1995 and 2004.

Last week a study suggested that a so-called fat tax could save more than 3,000 lives a year. The researchers showed that obesity levels would fall if people were forced to pay more for fattier foods.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Well, that's just fantastic now isn't it?

[DeathsHand]

You wouldn't know it looking around Arlington... Seems like everyone goes to the gym, jogs, bikes, walks... It's obvious that people don't drive too often since, when they do, they do a terrible job...

I'm far from overweight, but after years of being a skinny-ninny, I've suddenly gone up a pant size or two...

I guess a billion sodas a day, chipotle 2-3 days a week, and sandwiches from work with extra garlic mayo, combined with the lack of motivation to do... Well, anything after work, will do that to you...

But lately (as in starting yesterday) I've been trying to make a few changes to help prevent me from contributing to this statistic further down the line...

Horay...

[Teuthida]

Thank goodness for Wii Fit.

[KillerGremlin]

nothing wrong with a few extra hundred pounds

[TheGame]

I've actually been using www.calorie-count.com to build a diet to go along with my working out.. when you really study it, its HARD and EXPENSIVE to eat correctly in america, and its cheap and easy to eat horrible.

The funniest example I've seen was the sodium intake thing, it needs to be below 2,400 per day, and on my normal days 3,500 is easilly hit. I'm glad I live alone now, so I don't buy stuff that's bad lol

[Dyne]

America's food portions are laughably huge compared to Canada. I think there needs to be an intervention on portioning. I could get away without eating for three days after going to Chili's for one dinner. I'm sure I gain 10 pounds every time I go down.

[Angrist]

Originally Posted by Teuthida

Thank goodness for Wii Fit.

QFT.

[Perfect Stu]

I don't know the stats, but there has to be a huge difference between the obesity of Americans and Canadians. Seriously, the LARGE majority of people I know are not overweight. Whenever I've been to places in the states with lots of people around, you see someone of every shape and size...most of the shapes are bad and most of the sizes are big. I become much thinner when I cross the border to the south.

[KillerGremlin]

for some reason people feel that portion sizes need to be huge in america...i feel sick when i go out to eat

i've been sitting on my ass lately because of work and school, but i've noticed that i will eat food when i'm not hungry. it's just taboo to go a whole day and not eat 2 or 3 meals. if i came home and told my folks i wasn't hungry because i sat around all day they'd look at me funny. it's just some stupid standard that you eat set meals....breakfast is important because it kick starts your metabolism and gives you energy, but during the school year, if i'm not hungry for lunch or dinner i'm just going to eat a piece of fruit or something

[Jonbo298]

I'm trying to not be in that category anymore. I've been able to slowly train my stomach to get full or at least not eat as much as I was say a year ago. It takes awhile to adjust, and it was hard but its worth it.

I pay more, but I'd rather be healthy, then at walmart in one of those carts weighing 400 lbs and too lazy to get up and look like utter hell. Its a twisted society in america, but you can thank "Cheap bad food" for that.

[Professor S]

Only by 2015? I win! I'm fat now!

[Swan]

I'm lucky at the moment. I can eat huge amounts and not gain weight.



BUt it may also have to do with the fact I only eat like...once a day.

[gekko]

BMI is long outdated and was never designed to determine whether or not someone is overweight. It's retarded.

Fact of the matter is most of these overweight people are only considered overweight by a few pounds.

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by gekko

BMI is long outdated and was never designed to determine whether or not someone is overweight. It's retarded.

Fact of the matter is most of these overweight people are only considered overweight by a few pounds.

"Overweight" is even a loose term.

First, the BMI is entirely flawed because it doesn't take into account muscle mass.
So weightlifters are technically grossly overweight. Maybe even classified as morbidly obese.

[manasecret]

Yeah I just calculated my BMI to be almost exactly 25, but then I thought, wait, a simple measurement of body weight doesn't tell me anything about fat or muscle content.

I realize I just repeated what gekk and Typh said, but this is me talking!