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Fat Forecast: 42% of Americans Obese by 2030
About 32 million more Americans will become obese by 2030, upping obesity rates to 42 percent of the U.S. population, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report also predicts that the proportion of Americans who are severely obese, meaning more than 100 pounds overweight, will reach 11 percent, about double the current rate.
The report's authors give a sobering price tag for these predictions: such an increase would create $550 billion of obesity-related health care costs.
Eric Finkelstein, one of the authors of the report, said the prospect of such increasing rates, particularly those of severely obese Americans, is alarming since efforts aimed at helping people lose weight have so far proven relatively ineffective.
"Their weight continues to increase. Over the last 10 years, it has gone up tremendously," he said in a press conference. "This is a group at great risk of health complications, and yet they are increasing at an even greater rate than the rate of obesity."
The report was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and was released at the CDC's Weight of the Nation conference today, a gathering focused on the impact of the obesity epidemic. The authors analyzed data collected from each state and made projections based on a number of factors influencing obesity rates, including the cost of healthy and unhealthy foods, gas prices and Internet access.
"Predicting obesity is tricky and no one variable showed up as causing obesity," Finkelstein said.
Although recent data suggest that rates of obesity have reached a plateau, current rates of obesity are still alarmingly high. About 34 percent of adults are currently obese, creating a whole host of expensive, chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The report's authors said a number of factors could lead to the predicted rise in obesity. About two-thirds of Americans are currently overweight and could continue to gain weight and move into the obese category.
Dr. William Dietz, one of the study's authors and director of the CDC's division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, also noted that children who are currently overweight or obese will likely be a major source of the increasing rates.
"We know that about 50 percent of severe obesity in adults is consequence of obesity in childhood," he said.
Currently about 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese.
Anti-obesity measures such as better urban design, access to recreational facilities, workplace health promotion and new drugs could help reign in the problem, the authors noted.
Re: Fat Forecast: 42% of Americans Obese by 2030
I thought 40% of Americans were going to be Mexican by 2030.
Are they calling Mexicans fat?
Better urban design: Yeah right. That ship has sailed. We are used to urban sprawl now and are raising younger generations of people in this sprawl.
Access to recreational facilities: This one could help but there's already been push for this for years, hasn't there?
Workplace health promotion: This is common already but doesn't seem to be doing a damn thing.
New drugs: Eh, maybe. But I'm skeptical about this one too.
Can you tell I'm Miss Pessimistic about this issue?
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love
I see a lot more "mixed use" spaces and urban gentrification happening (especially in my area, I don't necessarily know about other areas). CA is also (in theory) developing more rail and other transit options in lieu of cars. Which should be ready in... about 25 years. :-) Honestly, though, the 70s, 80s, early 90s saw a development of very structured commercial, residential and industrial areas, necessitating people drive EVERYWHERE from their suburban homes. Gas prices, obesity, traffic congestion, and other things are really encouraging people to live in denser neighborhoods and walk, bike, or take public transportation, which means more exercise. Granted, this does seem a bit DINKy and there are and always will be people who want to live on a cul-de-sac "for the children." But I don't think that's the only option for people anymore.
40/112
My thought process on this...
"Is it Tuesday?...(short pause to think harder)...yes, yes it is."
I love that P&CE helps me keep track of my week.
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It's why I posted the article. :oD I'm doing my part to keep the board moving.
Meh. As long as we post obligatory articles about this every Tuesday, and talk about obesity, it'll get the job done. Much like those asinine Facebook chain posts for "awareness."
As someone who's had to cancel two workouts already this week (and it's only Tuesday!) because I woke up to additional assignments in my inbox both yesterday and today, I say this would help a lot.
Seriously, every day this week, I'll be working from before 8 to after 11. When do I get to see my kid? When do I get to exercise? Bananas.
Then again, I can also ask, "When do I get to eat?" so maybe I'll lose a few pounds anyway...
Oh, and next week and the rest of the month don't look much better. So hurrah.
OK, I can't stand this.
Really? No one is really freakin' up in arms that almost HALF of our citizens are going to be needing rascals in less than 20 years? That we're going to pretty much mirror the movie Wall-E?
Wow. Disgusting. I see reports like this and I'm pretty much ready to go burn down every fast food joint I come across. But whatev, pass the chicken nuggets and start saving up for a segway, right?