Obesity and Obesity Statistics


  • Americans’ obsession with their body weight is evidenced by the 50% of women and 25% of men who are trying to lose weight at any given time
  • One third of US adults and one fourth of US children are obese. Almost three fourths of all Americans are overweight.
  • Americans are more sedentary and at the same time consume more calories than their peers of 10 years ago.
  • Obesity is defined as being 20% over the recommended weight in height/weight tables. Better methods of determining obesity are those that involve actual fat measurements. With these methods, body fat percentages of 25% and 32% for men and women respectively are classified as moderately obese.
  • Obesity is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, some forms of cancer, some types of diabetes mellitus, respiratory disorders, and orthopedic problems. Obesity has been declared a disease by the National Institutes of Health.
  • Dietary intake of too much fat and too many calories is the major cause of obesity.
  • Dietary fat has less of a thermogenic effect than do carbohydrate and protein and therefore is more efficiently and easily stored as fat tissue.
  • The general decline in physical activity is highly correlated with the rise in obesity.
  • Engaging in a physically active lifestyle is the best way to prevent weight gain.
  • Approximately 70% of the energy liberated from food is expended to support BMR.
  • Physical activity improves body composition, in ­ creases BMR, improves insulin sensitivity, and increases oxygen capacity and glycogen storage in muscles.
  • Obesity occurs when fat cells increase excessively either in size (hypertrophy) and/or in number (hyperplasia). Most obesity is adult-onset and caused by hypertrophy.
  • Heredity and set point are the major biological factors associated with obesity.
  • The development and distribution of body fat is under substantial genetic control.
  • An endomorphic body type is more prone to fat cell storage than ectomorphic and mesomorphic types.
  • Physical activity is the best way to alter the body’s set point for fatness.
  • Overeating and lack of physical activities are the major behavioral explanations of obesity.
  • Weight loss requires a caloric deficit in which food intake and exercise are manipulated so that caloric expenditure exceeds caloric intake.
  • Complex forces influence the success of weight loss efforts and help to explain why people respond so differently to similar dieting strategies.
  • Low-fat diets often result in over compensatory eating behaviors in which the dieter ends up consuming more total calories.
  • Behavioral techniques may be a good supplement to exercise and dietary modification for weight management.
  • Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are three potentially destructive eating disorders with complex causes.

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