Obesity Statistics

If New York is the city that never sleeps, then the Bronx is an insomniac that raids the refrigerator at midnight for a late-night snack.

When the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System analyzed data from 2003, they discovered that of NYC's five boroughs, the Bronx had the highest percentage of overweight and obese citizens at over 62 percent.

He sent the T-1000 to a molten grave, he killed a terrorising predator, he took down the snake cult, and he dealt with having made "Jingle all the Way".

But, the "Governator" now faces a truly insurmountable foe in the lifestyle of Californians, who are burdening businesses and taxpayers to the tune of $41 Billion.

Nielsen surveyed citizens of fifty two different countries, and found that half of the people questioned said they were overweight.

Globesity... The term really resonated with me the first time I heard it. In the past few years, there has been a focus on previously lean nations getting heavy at an alarming rate. China is a particular concern, due to its large population and its recent economic boom - skyrocketing the number of overweight/obese residents to 30% (CDC China). Things are on pace to get pretty bad.

UPDATE 6/25/08: According to NHANEs / CDC data - USA has a 34% obesity rate - far higher than the latest Australian figures.

Congratulations America, you are no longer the heavyweight champions of the world.

The obesity rate of the US is currently at 25%. However - according to a new report - another country now has an obesity rate of 26%.

Who is it?

New research shows that the lifelong healthcare costs of obese people are lower than that of healthy people.

The reason is simple: obese people don't live as long as their thinner counterparts.

Health research is a contradictory beast. In the same week as cancer being linked to body weight - another set of research comes out claiming there are certain diseases that overweight people are less likely to get than normal weight people.

Confused?

The September 2007 issue of Scientific American was a special on Diet, Health and Food Supply. It contains a multitude of insightful pieces on the most pressing food and health related issues facing our world today.

One such article is entitled “The World is Fat” by Barry M. Popkin. This article should serve as a red alert to the true impact of obesity across the world.

Here is a summary of this piece:

Scotland's Sunday Herald has a lengthy diatribe deriding the nations "over-tolerant attitude to fatness".

The Obesity Myth challenges widely held beliefs regarding healthy weight. Written by Paul Campos, a Columbia Law professor and newspaper columnist, this book takes on the diet industry, respected medical journals and even the US Surgeon General.

Confusing Question of the Week: If more people are overweight than are normal weight - then is normal still normal?

Experts are predicting that "fat will be the norm by 2015" - with 75% of US adults being overweight.

The Wellington Grey blog has created an interesting poster displaying world obesity. There's been so much interest that the author has even made the picture into a poster that can be purchased.

A few interesting bits and pieces.

Almost every news report about obesity is presented with an alarmist tone. You would think we're in the midst of an evil epidemic that will result in everyone being the size of a house by 2020. Not so. The CDC studied data from 1999-2004 and showed that, while men and children have been getting heavier, the number of overweight and obese women has stayed the same (source). "I'd like to think this shows women are leading the way in recognizing obesity as a health threat," said Dietz, director of the CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity.

The alchemic spot blog makes a (humorous?) observation comparing housing statistics with obesity statistics. People are getting bigger, and houses are getting bigger.

Over the last 40 years the number of individuals classified as obese has continued to rise unabated. Strangely enough, life expectancy at birth has not fallen, but has actually increased.

Does the USA have the fattest men? If you believed popular media you would think this was true. You'd be wrong: In Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Malta and Slovakia, a higher percentage of men are obese or overweight than the estimated 67 percent of men in the United States, according to a report from the International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of researchers and institutions