25 Facts about the obesity epidemic in America

A record number of Americans are suffering from a health epidemic, but it’s not back pain, cancer, or even addiction to prescription painkillers that we’re talking about today. Instead, we’re going to discuss the fact that Americans are bigger, heavier, and have a higher percentage of body fat than ever before – and more than any society in human history.

We still have yet to realize the full brunt of our propensity for being overweight or obese, but the impact on our health, medical care, and social safety nets (just to name a few) is staggering.

As a Doctor of Chiropractic, I am concerned with the overall health and wellness of my patients, not just treating back and neck pain or injuries, for instance. Therefore, I am committed to do my part to remedy the problem, starting with education.

So, in this, part one of our series on obesity in America, we’ll cover the data on just how profound this problem is.

Later on, I’ll go over the health and medical care impact of obesity, then, even cover strategies and tips how you (and we as a society) can shed the pounds and keep them off.

Here are 25 facts about the obesity epidemic in America:

1. According to the most recent statistics, over 70 million U.S. adults are now considered obese.

2. Additionally, there are just under 100 million overweight adults in the U.S.

3. Add it all up, and at least 65% of Americans are overweight.

4. By some accounts, it’s even higher. For instance, data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey concluded that 70.2% of U.S. adults were overweight or had obesity.

5. About two out of every three men are overweight or obese, but those rates are even higher for women.

6. In fact, far more women (54 million) than men (45 million) are overweight.

7. The United States has the highest obesity rate in the entire world, both by percentage and total number.

8. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that more than 1 in every 3 adults were obese.

9. Even worse is the need for a new classification, extreme obesity. Today, about 1 in 12 U.S. adults are considered extremely obese.

10. Mirroring the proportion of men to women who are overweight and obese, rates of extreme obesity are higher for women (9.9%) than for men (5.5%).

11. The obesity epidemic in America continues to grow, unchecked. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) predicts that by 2020 – just two years from now – a jaw-dropping 75% (or more) of the U.S. population will be overweight or obese!

12. But the American propensity for obesity wasn’t always the case. Back in 1962, “only” about 23% of the population was overweight.

13. Our propensity to overeat – and eat the wrong things – really started in the mid-1980s (coincidence that that was the advent of large-scale fast food, the microwave, and heavily processed foods?).

14. By 1997, 39.4% of the U.S. population was overweight. We continued to grow heavier over the years, with a 44.% overweight rate in 2004, a massive jump to 56.6% only three years later in 2007, and an alarming increase to 63.8% just one year later in 2008.

15. 2008 also marks the year that childhood obesity became an important issue. That year, it was determined that 17% of all U.S. children were overweight or obese.

16. By 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 65.7% of American adults were overweight. The CDC also determined that 63% of girls became overweight by the age of 11 in 2010.

17. What’s most frightening is that it’s not just adults, but children who have grown overweight and obese at alarming levels.

18. From the mid-1980s to 2003, the rate of obesity tripled in U.S. children over the age of 6, and doubled in those age 2 to 5.

19. In fact, the rate of obesity in 6 to 11 year-olds jumped from 6.5% to 19.6% from 1980 to 2008, with obesity in teenagers climbing from 5% all the way to 18.1% in that same span.

20. Remember that we’re not just talking about children and teens who are overweight, but can be classified as obese.

21. As of 2014, approximately one-third of all U.S. children and teens are overweight or obese.

22. About 1 in 6 kids and adolescents are obese, not just overweight.

23. Here’s a shocking statistic to sum it up: in less than one generation, the average weight for a child in the U.S. has risen by more than 11 lbs.

24. Obviously, we could write ad Infinitum on the health detriments of obesity, which we’ll touch on in part two of this blog. But I will tell you that from a financial aspect, the prevalence of overweight and obese Americans is exceptionally costly. In fact, the average obese person spends an additional $1,429 in medical expenses annually, and we as a society spend an additional $147 billion dealing with the effects and problems of obesity.

25. Those numbers are expected to continue to skyrocket going forward, with an additional $1.24 billion in incurred expenses due to obesity EVERY YEAR through 2030.

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Stay tuned for part two of this series, where we’ll cover the health effects and issues that come with being overweight and obese.