Overweight prevalence

Kuczmarski RJ, Carrol MD, Flegal KM, et al. Varying body mass index cutoff points to describe overweight prevalence among US adults NHANES III (1988-1994). Obes Res 1997 5 542-548. 

The prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to increase, keeping this disease a major public health concern. Results from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reflect an increased combined prevalence for overweight and obesity among adults... 

Ogden CL, Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Johnson CL. Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999-2000. JAMA 2002 288 1728-1732. 

Prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents United States, 1999-2002. National Center for Health Statistics, December 2004 available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/ p ubd/hestats/obese/obse99. 

It is estimated that 50% of adults in the United States are overweight, with approximately half of those falling into the obese category. The prevalence of obesity in adults has increased approximately 60% in the United States between the years 1991 and 2001. (Figure 1.2)3... 

With the high prevalence and steady increase in overweight and obesity in the United States comes a steady increase in the use of various diet supplements, including both nonprescription and prescription diet pills. 

Obesity increases steadily with age in the under 60s. However, obesity is affecting younger people more than ever before. In the USA, there was an increase in prevalence of overweight (at or above the 95th percentile of sex-specific BMI for age growth charts) in female children and adolescents from 13.8% in 1999-2000 to 16.0% in 2003-2004 and an increase in male children and adolescents from 14.0% to 18.2% in the same time period. Similarly, in the UK, although the figures are lower, the prevalence of obesity in 5-10 year... 

And while the data on coronary artery disease are sobering, in many ways they merely represent the tip of the iceberg when considering the prevalence of risk factors for coronary artery disease (Fig. 1.6). Obesity and diabetes are approaching epidemic proportions (Fig. 1.7). Seven out of every ten American adults are considered overweight (BMI > 25) and three out of ten are obese (BMI > 30) [7]. The prevalence of obesity has increased 75%... 

Biguanides can be agents of first choice only in Type II diabetic patients with serious overweight as in these patients insulin resistance has a high prevalence. 

The prevalence of overweight (BMI 25-29) and obesity (BMI 30 or more) was determined in 89 euthyroid bipolar patients and 445 reference subjects. The rate of obesity in patients taking only lithium was 1.5 times greater than in the reference population (a nonsignificant difference), compared with a statistically significant 2.5 times greater rate associated with antipsychotic drugs (693). 

The prevalence of overweight (BMI 20 or more) and obesity (BMI 30 or more) has been evaluated in 89 euthy-mic bipolar patients and 445 age- and sex-matched controls (693). The bipolar women were more overweight and more obese than the controls and the bipolar men were more obese but not more overweight. Obesity was clearly related to antipsychotic drug use and less so to lithium and anticonvulsants (but patients taking lithium alone had an obesity rate 1.5 times that of the general population). 

Elmslie JL, Silverstone JT, Mann JI, Williams SM, Romans SE. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in bipolar patients. J Clin Psychiatry 2000 61(3) 179-84. 

Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity." Weight-control Information Network (WIN), a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), May 2007. Available online. URL http // win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm preval. Accessed August 28, 2007. 

Obesity or excess adiposity was relatively rare in earlier centuries. Indeed, an ample belly was often seen as a sign of affluence and prosperity. In the last two decades, however, adult obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and other developed countries. This is strikingly evident from data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which estimates obesity rates by state. Data from 1990 indicate that all states had obesity rates (BMI > 30 kg/m2 or 30 lb overweight) of less than 15%. By contrast, in 2002, every state had an obesity prevalence rate of at least 15%-19% 29 states had rates of 20%-24% and the rates in three states were over 25%. Graphic representation of these data, updated annually, is available at... 

Overweight and resistance to insulin appear to play pivotal roles in the pathophysiological process. The resulting hyperinsulinemia induces a rise in systemic arterial blood pressure and probably also a hyperglyceridemia associated with an unfavorable LDL/HDL quotient. This combination of risk factors lowers life expectancy and calls for therapeutic intervention. The metabolic syndrome has a high prevalence in industrialized countries, up to 20% of adults are believed to suffer from it. 

Data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the 2003-2004 period indicated that 66% of adults in the United States were overweight (7). The prevalence of overweight and obesity had doubled for both adults and children, when compared with a previous survey for the 1976-1980 period. According to 2005 statistics from the WHO, approximately 1.6 billion adults were overweight, and at least 400 million adults were obese (3) that half of all diabetes cases would be eliminated if weight gain could be prevented. WHO projects that by 2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight, and more than 700 million adults will be obese. 

Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States 1999-2004. JAMA 2006 295 1549-1555. 

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