A new study found that by 2035, almost 50% of Americans will be medically obese. In 1990, that number was just 20%. Nonwhite Americans are much more likely to suffer.

On Wednesday, a new study published in JAMA by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle projected that by 2035, nearly half of all American adults, about 126 million individuals, will be living with obesity.

The study draws on data from more than 11 million participants via the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and from the independent Gallup Daily Survey.

The projections show a striking increase in the prevalence of obesity over the past few decades in the U.S. In 1990, only 19.3% of U.S. adults were obese, according to the study. That figure more than doubled to 42.5% by 2022, and is forecast to reach 46.9% by 2035.

  • bss03@infosec.pubEnglish
    3·
    10 hours ago

    If you doubt BMI (like many of the replies I got to my other comment), you can probably ignore this study:

    Design, Setting, and Participants Analysis of measured body mass index data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and bias-corrected body mass index values calculated from self-reported height and weight data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Gallup Daily Survey using spatiotemporal gaussian process regression and an ensemble of annualized rate of change and meta-regression bayesian spline models. Surveys for input data were conducted using population-based sampling by state and by race and ethnicity group with a total of 11 315 421 US participants.

    Main Outcomes and Measures Obesity prevalence (BMI ≥30).

    So, one reason I’m concerned about my BMI (39.5 kg/m2) is because I’m making my country look bad. Tho, with Trump at the helm, my contributions to that effort are overshadowed.