Morbid obesity rates continue to rise rapidly in the United States
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 18 September 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in International Journal of Obesity
- Vol. 37 (6), 889-891
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.159
Abstract
Clinically severe or morbid obesity (body mass index (BMI) >40 or 50 kg m−2) entails far more serious health consequences than moderate obesity for patients, and creates additional challenges for providers. The paper provides time trends for extreme weight categories (BMI >40 and >50 kg m−2) until 2010, using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Between 2000 and 2010, the prevalence of a BMI >40 kg m−2 (type III obesity), calculated from self-reported height and weight, increased by 70%, whereas the prevalence of BMI >50 kg m−2 increased even faster. Although the BMI rates at every point in time are higher among Hispanics and Blacks, there were no significant differences in trends between them and non-Hispanic Whites. The growth rate appears to have slowed down since 2005. Adjusting for self-report biases, we estimate that in 2010 15.5 million adult Americans or 6.6% of the population had an actual BMI >40 kg m−2. The prevalence of clinically severe obesity continues to be increasing, although less rapidly in more recent years than prior to 2005.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Prevalence of Obesity and Trends in the Distribution of Body Mass Index Among US Adults, 1999-2010JAMA, 2012
- Tendencia creciente de la prevalencia de obesidad mórbida en España: de 1,8 a 6,1 por mil en 14 añosRevista Espanola de Cardiologia, 2011
- Obesity Prevalence in the United States — Up, Down, or Sideways?New England Journal of Medicine, 2011
- National, regional, and global trends in body-mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9·1 million participantsThe Lancet, 2011
- Addressing the Need for Research on Bariatric Patient HandlingRehabilitation Nursing Journal, 2010
- The Bias in Self‐reported Obesity From 1976 to 2005: A Canada–US ComparisonObesity, 2010
- Socioeconomics of ObesityPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2007
- A comparison of direct vs. self‐report measures for assessing height, weight and body mass index: a systematic reviewObesity Reviews, 2007
- Moderate and Severe Obesity Have Large Differences in Health Care CostsObesity Research, 2004
- Increases in Clinically Severe Obesity in the United States, 1986-2000Archives of Internal Medicine, 2003