OBESITY: Statistics, causes and solutions.
- The history of obesity in the US.
- The effects of obesity on health and well being.
- Statistics on obesity by ethnicity, state and worldwide.
- Helpful reminders on what foods to eat and what to avoid.
- A simple, healthy and safe way to loose weight.
In the past 60 years, obesity has gone from being a fairly isolated problem to becoming a global pandemic. In 2017-2018 the CDC reports that 41.9% of American adults are obese. In 1999 that number was 30.5%. In 1962 it was 13.4%. Worldwide prevalence of obesity tripled between 1975 and 2016. By 2030, it is projected that almost half of the adults in the United States will be obese with almost one-quarter severely obese. Obesity is linked to almost half the new cases of diabetes in the US each year.
One way to see how things have changed is something I have observed from 25 years of teaching exercise to those older. Over the years, very, very few of my hundreds of elderly students were obese, perhaps because it was an infrequent problem or perhaps because those obese do not live as long. It wasn't till about 20 years ago that wheelchairs were available for larger bodies. Now in doctors' offices you will see plenty of seating provided for the much wider body frame of those obese. What used to be rare is now common. This is a serious health crisis of troubling proportions, particularly because those obese have so much more difficultly being active, the most important predictor of future health and well being.
Obesity reflects a food obsession. That's obvious. What is not quite as obvious is that it is an addiction. And it is one of the most difficult addictions to recover from. One notable consequence of obesity is that after the incredibly hard task of losing the weight comes the likely need for surgery to remove the heavy excess skin that results.
60 years into the obesity epidemic and available solutions are meager and risk potential side effects. Prior to 2023, the most effective treatment for obesity has been surgical procedures to limit food intake. This is an extreme and medically costly solution. Recently drugs that have previously been prescribed for diabetes are being used to loose weight. Ozempic and Wegovy have both been approved for that use by the FDA. But each is very expensive unless covered by insurance and only work to lower appetite while being taken.
It is so much better to avoid the physical catastrophe of obesity by never letting ourselves gain this much weight to begin with. From MedPageToday: Obesity is a disease. Treat it as such.
One way to see how things have changed is something I have observed from 25 years of teaching exercise to those older. Over the years, very, very few of my hundreds of elderly students were obese, perhaps because it was an infrequent problem or perhaps because those obese do not live as long. It wasn't till about 20 years ago that wheelchairs were available for larger bodies. Now in doctors' offices you will see plenty of seating provided for the much wider body frame of those obese. What used to be rare is now common. This is a serious health crisis of troubling proportions, particularly because those obese have so much more difficultly being active, the most important predictor of future health and well being.
Obesity reflects a food obsession. That's obvious. What is not quite as obvious is that it is an addiction. And it is one of the most difficult addictions to recover from. One notable consequence of obesity is that after the incredibly hard task of losing the weight comes the likely need for surgery to remove the heavy excess skin that results.
60 years into the obesity epidemic and available solutions are meager and risk potential side effects. Prior to 2023, the most effective treatment for obesity has been surgical procedures to limit food intake. This is an extreme and medically costly solution. Recently drugs that have previously been prescribed for diabetes are being used to loose weight. Ozempic and Wegovy have both been approved for that use by the FDA. But each is very expensive unless covered by insurance and only work to lower appetite while being taken.
It is so much better to avoid the physical catastrophe of obesity by never letting ourselves gain this much weight to begin with. From MedPageToday: Obesity is a disease. Treat it as such.
The problem nationwide and by region, analyzed by ethnicity:
CDC statistics as of 2021: There are 5 maps to the side of the larger one, which reflects Overall Obesity. The 5 to the right reflect obesity by ethnicity:
- Non-Hispanic Asian
- Non-Hispanic White
- Hispanic
- Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native
- Non-Hispanic Black
Here is a summary of these findings: Asian Americans are the only group with obesity rates lower than 25%. Of those non-white and non-Asian American, Mexican Americans are less at risk than American Indians or Pacific islanders and African Americans are more at risk for obesity than any other group, especially women. The middle of the country suffers from higher rates of obesity across groups with the South coming in a close second. The coasts are least at risk, especially the West where in general people are more active.
Effects of obesity
When you routinely overeat you change the body's abilities in some important ways.
- When you are obese, activity level drops drastically, making it even more burdensome to lose weight. Exercise becomes especially difficult because of the drag on the body of the extra weight. It is also embarrassing to join others exercising. Starting new exercise regimens becomes really hard because it feels so uncomfortable to move. And the huge weight loss goal is depressing and disheartening.
- Our emotional health is affected: When you are so heavy it changes how we see ourselves and how others see us. You not only feel physically uncomfortable. You carry immense personal pain, mental and physical.
- Constantly overeating damages the body's boundaries: When you overeat all the time, you are basically not listening to the messages your body sends to you that it has eaten enough. It disturbs your body's integrity. (This is a classic sign of addiction.) What all that means for us on a practical basis is that it makes it much harder to lose weight.
- Carrying significant extra weight affects the skeleton of the body, particularly the legs and feet. With long term obesity, the leg bones become malformed with the knees buckling inward in an attempt to handle the weight. That deformity becomes permanent even after the weight is lost. The feet are especially affected as the bones and joints of the feet become overburdened. Foot health is substantially influenced.
- Those obese experience more pain. Obesity and pain often go hand in hand. That appears to be true even if an obese person is otherwise healthy. Joint deterioration is responsible. It is not surprising then that the extra burden that weight adds causes an increase in symptoms including pain of conditions like fibromyalgia and arthritis.
- Those obese are more at risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, severe COVID-19, many types of cancer and dementia: According to a recent study: "The global obesity pandemic has not only led to a greater incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, but has also coincided with a rise in brain diseases, such as accelerated cognitive decline and dementia." Research shows that obesity is associated with smaller brain volumes. The pandemic of the past 3 years revealed that those obese were at a greater risk of serious infection, hospitalization or death.
- Life expectancy is affected: Somewhat overweight people lose a year of life on average. Moderately overweight people lose three years. Being severely obese could cost as much as eight years of life.
- The future of health care is affected by obesity: The highest prevalence of obesity is among those middle aged. As these people get older, illness in the country shifts. Diabetes will be even more widespread than it is today with resultant increases in kidney failure and dialysis needs, neuropathy of the feet, amputation, blindness and other diabetic conditions. Because obesity causes so much stress on the feet and knees, disorders in that area become more common. And since difficulty walking is an important result of obesity, activity level is affected for those older with overall decrease in physical and mental well being as a result.
If you suffer from obesity it is more than likely that your feet and knees feel a lot of stress. Regardless of your weight, your goals, your diet, please make sure to do 2 things to keep your body functioning well.
These two actions will help you significantly as your body ages. This is good advice for anyone of any age but it is essential advice for those obese:
- Take care of your feet: Massage them each night. You can also use a tennis ball to roll upon or one of the many foot rollers available. Epsom salt foot baths are heavenly and highly recommended. See your podiatrist on a regular basis. And best of all, get a professional foot massage once a month, a moderate expense that is well worth it. Foot health radiates to the rest of the body. When your feet are happy, you are much more likely to be as well.
- Take care of your knees: Practice the fantastic seated knee circling exercise described in the Building Better Balance article Knees That Hurt. The standing Tai Chi knee warmup described in the same article is simply fantastic and can be practiced anywhere. Do these exercises whenever you feel stress in your knees. Maybe it is as you are walking. Stop your walk, circle your knees and then when done continue. Your knees are having to support far more weight than they were designed for. You can improve their stamina and strength by keeping the knee joints flexible.
A weight loss diet that always works!
There are so many diets, most of which don't work or cause other kinds of problems. There is one way though that will absolutely make you lose weight but it requires an important contribution from you. Enhanced self awareness. The body has natural rhythms. One of them involves weight. If you notice, the body's weight goes through different phases. Assume for a moment that you eat the same thing every day for a month, without variation on amounts. For part of the month the body will tend to put weight on. For another part of the month the body will naturally slough off weight. And for much of the month the body is on a plateau and doesn't change. We notice this all the time. Some days our clothes are a little looser and we can't figure out why. Other days, no matter what we do we can't loose weight.
The solution is to be enough aware of ourselves that we can determine which part of the cycle our body is in. Then when you are in a sloughing off phase, go on a real diet and eat much less. The trick is to be on a maintenance diet the rest of the time. If you can resist the temptation to overeat (especially when you feel frustrated) then this approach has the potential for the body literally shedding weight. If in addition, you reduce intake all the time of refined sugar and heavily processed carbohydrates like donuts, then the doors open to escort your excess pounds out.
It is also really important to examine how you use food. Do you use it as a reward? For a job well done? When you feel blue? When you come in from the outside. Food is a terrible reward unless the food is healthy. Carrot cake or candy after a tough meeting only makes you feel good while you are eating it. Afterwards come the guilt and the weight gain. That food will hurt you much more than help you. For an understanding of the dynamics and how we can change them for ourselves please see my recent article Food As Reward.
The solution is to be enough aware of ourselves that we can determine which part of the cycle our body is in. Then when you are in a sloughing off phase, go on a real diet and eat much less. The trick is to be on a maintenance diet the rest of the time. If you can resist the temptation to overeat (especially when you feel frustrated) then this approach has the potential for the body literally shedding weight. If in addition, you reduce intake all the time of refined sugar and heavily processed carbohydrates like donuts, then the doors open to escort your excess pounds out.
It is also really important to examine how you use food. Do you use it as a reward? For a job well done? When you feel blue? When you come in from the outside. Food is a terrible reward unless the food is healthy. Carrot cake or candy after a tough meeting only makes you feel good while you are eating it. Afterwards come the guilt and the weight gain. That food will hurt you much more than help you. For an understanding of the dynamics and how we can change them for ourselves please see my recent article Food As Reward.
Interesting diet fact: Vitamin C in colorful produce like oranges and red peppers can help you zap up to 30% more fat during exercise.
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Foods that especially help fight body fat:
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11 foods to avoid when you are trying to lose weight:
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In general avoid foods that are heavily processed or high in refined sugars like dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, lactose, maltose, sucrose, corn sweetener and corn syrup.
Examination of Data:
Regarding obesity: Worldwide, the United States ranks highest among developed societies. Statistics vary by source and can be hard to pin down. These statistics are from Wikipedia, reflecting data as of 2017-2020. The top 10 most obese countries are all from the Pacific Islands. The US is #11. After the US come the Middle Eastern countries. In other words, the US is the only country out of the 20 most obese countries in the world which has a temperate climate.
Data as of 2019:
Rate of obesity by country as of 2019, in order of most obese first:
- Nauru (61.0%)
- Pacific Islands (45-55%)
- USA (41.9%)
- Canada (29.4%)
- Australia (29%)
- Mexico (28.9%)
- United Kingdom (27.8%)
- Israel (26.1%)
- Greece (24.9%)
- Spain (23.8%)
- Russia (23.1%)
- Germany (22.3%)
- France (21.6%)
- Sweden (20.6%)
- Italy (19.9%)
- Kenya (7.1%)
- China (6.2%)
- Japan (4.3%)
- India (3.9%)
Within the United States:
Obesity affects proportionally more of those African American, American Indian, Pacific Islander or Hispanic with southern and midwestern states having the highest rates of obesity. Women are significantly more likely to be obese than men. In general, those of lower income are more at risk.
Severe obesity is a subset of obesity.
Comparisons are indications only. The green statistics are from 1960-62 and the red statistics reflect % increase from then to now.
Data as of 2017-2018:
Overall: 1960-62 through 2017-2018
Stratified by age:
- 42.4% (13.4%, +29 points) of American adults were obese (BMI>30).
- 9.2% (<1%, +8.2 points) had severe obesity, a subset (BMI>40).
- Another 30.7% (31.5%, -.8 points) of American adults were overweight (BMI 25-30).
- Currently 27% of American adults are of "normal" weight.
Stratified by age:
- Presently adults 40-59 are the most obese (45%).
- Middle-aged men were the worst with 46% of American middle aged men obese.
Rate of obesity by US state, a sampling: 2014 through 2017-2018
- Mississippi: 40.8% (35.2%, +5.6 points)
- West Virginia: 39.7% (34.3%, +5.4 points)
- Louisiana: 35.9% (33.2%, +2.7 points)
- Oklahoma: 36.8% (32.6%, +4.2 points)
- Alabama: 36.1% (32.1%, +4 points)
- Ohio: 34.8% (29.9%, +4.9 points)
- Texas: 34% (29.7%, +4.3 points)
- Pennsylvania: 33.2% (28.6%, +4.6 points)
- New Mexico: 31.7% (28%, +2.7 points)
- Illinois: 31.6% (27.3%, +4.3 points)
- Vermont: 26.6% (26.8%, -.2 points)
- Florida: 27% (26%, +1 point)
- Oregon: 29% (25.1%, +2.9 points)
- New York 27.1% (24.7%, +2.4 points)
- California: 26.2% (23.9%, +2.3 points)
- Hawaii: 25% (19%, +6 points)
Poverty plays a role in the prevalence of obesity but can only explain some of the massive weight gain in our population. A reduction in activity level probably also plays a role. The advent of cheap fast food is a major culprit. The New York Times did an amazing and deeply detailed study on population and obesity many years ago that showed how communities changed when people immigrated to this country, taking on new American fast food customs. Obesity was a rare problem in the immigrant population when they arrived but that changed severely as they assimilated. Also highlighted from that article is that it is more expensive to eat healthy food. Fast food is cheap. Fresh vegetables in particular are not as available in poorer areas.
Updated July 31, 2023.