Epidemiology And Public Health Significance

In the UK 26% of men and 24% of women are classed as obese with 2% of men and 4% of women classed as morbidly obese. Obesity is

In 2013-2014 37.7% of adults 20 years of age and older in the U.S were obese. Among racial ethnic groups white Non -Hispanics had the lowest rate of obesity at 36.4%. Black and Hispanics populations had rates of 48.4% and 42.6% nationally. The rate for Black non- Hispanic groups were 1.5 times higher than the rate for white non- Hispanic groups.("Healthy People 2020," 2014, p. 3).

Obese- is becoming an “epidemic!” We have 44.3 million people that are either obese or over weight. In 1986, the numbers were at 1 in 2000, and they became 1 in 400 by the year 2000. Even our high school age students are at an all time high of 16% overweight and 10% obese. As that number keeps increasing, future projections for covering healthcare expenditures must figure in the obese-related

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) about “17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese” (Moreno et al., 2013 P.157). “Surveys

It has always been known that adults were the ones who faced obesity, but in these past several decades, the numbers of children becoming overweight and/or obese have more than doubled. Approximately 32% of children between the ages of 2 and 19 years old in the United States are either overweight or at risk for becoming overweight (Papoutsakis et al, 2013). Like asthma, obesity also poses a threat to the quality of life as it poses many health risks.

Obesity affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States, from which 4-7% are extremely obese. The percentage of adolescents and children who are obese tripled from 1980 to 2008. It was estimated that over one third of U.S. Children and adolescents were obese in 2008 (National center for Health Statistics, 2011).

1. According to the Center for Disease Control, more than one third of adults in the United States are obese.

Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B.K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999-2010. Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(5), 483-490.

Obesity is considered to be the significant health problem in the United States affecting children and adults. It occurs when a child is well above the normal or healthy weight for his or her age and height. The main causes of excess weight in youth are similar to those in adults, including individual causes such as behavior and genetics. Different behaviors include dietary patterns, medication use, physical inactivity, and other exposures. Additional contributing factors in society include the food and physical activity environment, education and skills, and food marketing and promotion. Childhood obesity is a significant health problem in the United States. Although there was slight decrease in the rate of prevalence among preschool-aged children, obesity among children is still high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, the prevalence of obesity has remained fairly stable at about 17% and affects about 12.7 million children and adolescents for the past decade (Ogden, Carroll, Kit & Flegal, 2014). Approximately 17% (or 12.7 million) of children and adolescents aged from 2 to 19 years are obese (Ogden, Carroll, Kit & Flegal, 2014). The prevalence of obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years decreased significantly from 13.9% in 2003-2004 to 8.4% in 2011-2012 (Ogden, Carroll, Kit & Flegal, 2014). In 2011-2012, the prevalence among children and adolescents was higher among Hispanics (22.4%) and non-Hispanic blacks (20.2%) than among non-Hispanic whites (14.1%)(Ogden,

According to the (CDC) between 67-78 percent of adults White, Hispanic and African Americans, fall in the category of being obese or overweight. In the same report it shows that children that live in the same community range 28-39 fall under the same scale of

country alone, 17% of all children and adolescents are now obese, triple the rate from

According to Kenneth Fujioka, MD obesity rates have gone up, drastically, in the past four decades. They have more than doubled since 1980. The rates of overweight and obesity in adult men has increased from 29% to 37% and in women it has increased from 30% to nearly 40%. Obesity in women is twice as frequent than it is in men. Obesity in children has increased by almost 50% than what it was in 1980.The occurrence of overweight or obese children and adolescents in developed countries is more than 22% and almost 24% in boys. Obesity is more likely to be higher in lower income and medium income countries. The United States is the 3rd most obese country with an obesity rate of 66%. There is a higher

The number of obese people in America is growing at a rate of two in every three people being overweight or obese. Over 68% of American adults are considered overweight or obese. What exactly is causing this tragically large result? Studies have shown that nutrition, overeating and lack of exercise are few factors contributing to this. People need to start caring about their health before it’s too late.

The chart above presents the percentages of the Australian adult (18+) population who were overweight or obese in 1995, 2007-08, 2011-12 and 2014-15. It also shows that a higher percentage of men were found to be obese in all

The global growing number of obese among adults and children is alarming and is one of the biggest public health issues that health systems are facing (Laura Cornelsen et al. 2014). In 2014 adults overweight prevalence was estimated at 1.9 billion worldwide of these 600 million were obese and this number keeps increasing at a noticeable pace. Nearly one-thirds of the world population is obese or overweight and 41 million children under five were overweight or obese according to WHO (2016).