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U.S. Obesity Crisis Still Gaining Weight

The prevalence of being overweight and obese was found to be 63 percent in adults surveyed in 2005, which is a 5 percent increase when compared to 2001 estimates

Overweight and obesity are both labels for ranges of weight that ar e greater than what is considered healthy for a given height, which is computed into a number describing their body mass index. An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

Applied health assistant professor Dong-Chul Seo, who co-wrote the study with Mohammad Torabi, chairman of IU's Department of Applied Health Science, said self-reported height and weight measurements were used to calculate BMI in the study.

"We revealed a direct link between obesity and bad health conditions," Seo said. "In lay terms this means if you gain more weight you are more susceptible to health problems."

Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, hypertension, stroke, lung disease, asthma, thyroid disorders or kidney disease are some of these problems the named. The study noted a common association of the symptom of hyperthyroidism (an underactive thyroid) with weight gain, which in turn caused researchers to wonder how thyroid disorders affect the obesity problem. Statistics showed 27 percent of obese respondents and 55 percent of severely obese respondents reported having serious health problems, compared to 13 percent of respondents with normal weight.

"There has been an increased rate of obesity for two decades among U.S. adults. It went unobserved in 2001 and 2002, which caused many researchers to think the problem had come to a plateau. Contrary to hopes and expectations and despite group efforts 63 percent of all Americans are overweight or obese."

The highest levels of BMI for women were between ages 58-67 and 38-47 for men. Researchers suggested that more research and resources should be targeted at these age groups. The study also revealed BMI decreased as educational attainment increased for women, but not for men. These findings indicated to researchers that a gender-specific approach to the obesity problem might be needed.

Another finding of the study highlighted racial disparities among women, but not among men. Only 19 percent of white women were obese in contrast to 41 percent of black women. Seo admitted that no one knows exactly why this is, but said many factors including lifestyle choices and cultural aspects play a part.

Seo maintained that many people think they are gaining weight solely because of a lack of exercise. Although he emphasized the importance of exercise he said many times people overlook their diets and lifestyle. "The big portions of high fat high calorie food observed in American diets are a major part of the problem," Seo said. He said a sedentary lifestyle made up of long hours watching television accompanied by eating is another popular model of how not to lose weight.