NEW YORK —The nation’s obesity epidemic continues to grow, led by an alarming increase among women. For the first time, more than 4 in 10 U.S. women are obese, according to new government health statistics.
Obesity rates for men and women in the U.S. had been roughly the same for about a decade, but in recent years, women have surged ahead. Now just over 40 percent of women are obese, compared to 35 percent of men.
The percentages were reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in two articles published online June 7 by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The numbers are based on small government survey that is considered the best measure of the nation’s obesity problem.
Though it is not altogether surprising to health researchers because the nation has long been growing more obese, it is “scary” that the statistic has reached 40 percent for women, said Dana Hunnes, a dietitian who sees obese patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“It’s a really alarming figure, and it’s alarming that it’s continuing to go up despite government calls to action on weight loss and healthy eating,” she said.
Why the problem is getting worse for women remains somewhat of a mystery to health researchers. “I don’t know if anyone truly knows for sure,” Hunnes said. Experts say there are a range of possible explanations, including that many women are satisfied with a larger body size.
The rate of obesity in women is also higher than in men across the world, although far lower overall than in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, 15 percent of women worldwide and 11 percent of men are obese.
Obesity, which means not merely overweight, but seriously overweight, is considered one of the nation’s leading public health problems because it can trigger diabetes and lead to heart disease and other serious health problems. Until the early 1980s, only about 1 in 6 adults were obese.
