The Downey Obesity Report
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ADULT OBESITY
The adult obesity rates have risen dramatically from 1960 to today; rates of overweight (BMI >30) have doubled, rates of obesity (BMI 30-39.9) have nearly tripled and rates of extreme or morbid obesity (BMI >40) have nearly increased seven fold.
ADULT (age 20-74) Prevalence 1
Overweight (BMI 25-30) Percentage
1960-1962 31.5%
2005-2006 33%
Obese (BMI>30)
1960-1962 13.4%
2005-2006 35.1%
Extreme or Morbid Obese( BMI>40)
1960-1962 0.9%
2005-2006 6.2%
The rates of obesity only tell half the story. During this period, the total US population has also increased. Therefore, the raw numbers of Americans affected have also increased. Looking at the numbers of people affected, the overweight population has doubled, the obese population has increased 5 fold and the population with extreme or morbid obesity as increased by a factor of nearly 12!
Number of Americans Overweight in 1960: 56.5 million
Number of Americans Overweight in 2006: 94.5 million
Number of Americans Obese in 1960: 24 million
Number of Americans Obese in 2006:
40 million
Number of American with extreme or morbid obesity in 1960:
1.6 million
Number of Americans with extreme or morbid obesity in 2006: 18.6 million
Since 1960-61 to 2006, the number of American adults who became obese or extremely obese*: 61.1 million
Average number per year: 1.3 million
Average number per month: 110,779
Average number per day: 3,693
Average number per hour: 153
Average increase per minute: 2.5
Since 1960-61 to 2006, the number of American adults who became extremely obese*: 11 million
Average number per year: 240,217
Average number per month: 20,018
Average number per day: 667
Average number per hour: 27
Adolescents Obesity age 12-19 3
Percent overweight/obese 2005-2006 18%
Young adult Obesity
Ages 18-29
Percent obese 1971-1974 8%
Percent obese 2005 24%
Childhood 2
Ages 6-11 15%
Ages 2-5 11%
Year at which each group will reach 80% obesity 4
All 2072
Men 2077
Women
2058
African American Women 2035
African American Men 2079
Mexican American Women 2073
Mexican American Men 20 91
White Women 2082
White Men
2073
Adipose Tissue (Fat Cells) 5
Age at which typical body has acquired its full number of fat cells: 13
Number of fat cells in average American Adult: 23-65 billion
Number of fat cells in persons with morbid obesity: 37-237 billion
Number of fat cells lost in weight-loss efforts: 0
By Julie Snider for the Downey Obesity Report
Daily Calories Needed and Available 6
Recommended calories per day by typical American adult:
Men 2,400 to 2,800
Women 2,000 to 2,200
Mean (meaning half were above and half below) adult daily calorie intake per day 7 :
Men
1971 2,450
2001-2004 2,593
Women
1971 1,542
2001-2004 1,886
Percent increase in food available for consumption per person from
1970 to 2003: 16%
Amount of food available for each person increase from
1.67 pounds in 1970 to 1.95 pounds in 2003
Daily caloric intake has grown by 523 calories from 1970 to 2003. Leading the way were fats, oils, grains, vegetables and sugars and sweeteners.
U.S. Government Biomedical Research 8
2008 Budget of National Institutes of Health $29.6 billion
NIH Spending 2008 on selected diseases:
Cancer
$5.6 billion
HIV/AIDS funding $2.9 billion
Cardiovascular Disease
$2.0 billion
Heart Disease $1.2 billion
Obesity
$664 million
U. S. Government Infrastructure on Combating Obesity
Name of coordinator of U.S. global anti-obesity efforts:
(Trick question: no such position exists)
Name of White House coordinator of federal anti-obesity efforts:
(Another trick question: no such position exists)
Name of coordinator of Department of Health and Human Services***anti-obesity efforts:
(No such position exists)
*Calculations were made by taking the CDC prevalence figures for 1960-1962 and 2005-2006and multiplying them against US census data for 1960 and census data for 2006,respectively. See Census Bureau Home Page
**Available in this context means the total US calories available for consumption, less spoilage and waste. See ERS/USDA Data – Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System)
*** Department of Health and Human Services includes the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, Office of the Surgeon General, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality among others.)
Notes
1. N C H S – Health E Stats – Prevalence of overweight, obesity and exreme obesity among adults: United States, trends 1960-62 through 2005-2006
2. FASTSTATS – Overweight Prevalence
3. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf
4. Studies of human adipose tissue. Adipose cell size…[J Clin Invest. 1973] – PubMed Result
5. Will all Americans become overweight or obese? est…[Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008] – PubMed Result. In this estimate, by 2030, 86.3% of adults will be overweight or obese and 51% obese; black women at a level of 96.9% will be the most effected, followed by Mexican-American men (91.1%). By 2048, all American adults would be overweight or obese but black women would reach that milestone by 2034. In children, the authors estimate, rates will nearly double by 2030.
6. http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/MyPyramid_Food_Intake_Patterns.pdf
7. http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/November05/pdf/FindingsDHNovember2005.pdf
8. NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) – Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC)
By Julie Snider for the Downey Obesity Report
