CDC: Obesity Among Adults in the U.S On the Rise

According to the Center For Disease Control, in 2007 the level of obesity among U.S adults was at 25.6% but that number increased to 26.1% in 2008. This data was collected through the CDC's phone survey that collects health information from the public over 18 years of age, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, or BFRSS.

More than 400,000 adults were surveyed in the 2008 BFRSS which was the world's largest telephone survey. To assess the obesity levels, people were required to give their height and weight so as to discover their body mass index. A number on the BMI scale that is considered to be obese is 30.

In Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia obesity levels were at over 30% of adults. Another thirty-two states had obesity levels which were over 25% of adults. The only state to have less than 20% was Colorado but no states level of obesity has decreased.

The BFRSS has decided that not a single state has achieved the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing obesity to a level of less than 15%.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2009/r090708.htm