Obesity Rates Among Women Appear To Be Stabilizing, CDC Study Says

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 07 Apr 2006 - 3:00 PDT

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The obesity rate among women in the U.S. -- which has been increasing for decades -- appears to have stabilized, according to a CDC study published in the April 5 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Washington Post reports. Cynthia Ogden at CDC's National Center for Health Statistics and colleagues examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on about 8,400 adults and children (Stein, Washington Post, 4/5). The study finds "no significant increase" between 1999 to 2000 and 2003 to 2004 in the percentage of women who were obese, defined as an adult with a body mass index of 30 or above (Ogden et al., JAMA, 4/5). The study also reports that the percentage of overweight women did not change during the same time period and remains at 62% (Stobbe, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/4). In addition, the percentage of overweight women remained slightly higher than that of men, and the rate of extreme obesity among women also was "particularly high," the Post reports (Washington Post, 4/5). The study defines extreme obesity as an adult having a BMI of 40 or above (JAMA, 4/5). Health officials said it is too early to know whether the study's findings are indicative of a possible decline in obesity rates.

Analysis
According to some experts, the consistency of obesity rates among women could show that they are more responsive to public health campaigns aimed at curbing the epidemic. "We know that women in this society are very focused on their weight -- somewhat for health issues and somewhat for appearance issues," June Stevens of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said. In addition, women's obesity rates historically have been greater than the rates among men, so they could have "reached a genetic saturation point sooner," the Post reports. Thomas Wadden of the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Obesity Society said, "It's possible that most of the people who are genetically susceptible to obesity have gotten obese." Ogden said, "We'll need more data over the next few years to know for sure, but hopefully we'll see this continue, which would be terrific." She added that obesity remains a major public health issue because nearly two-thirds of U.S. women are overweight and more than one-third are obese. According to the Post, many experts were not encouraged by the data. "There's good news and bad news," Ogden said, adding, "We're definitely nowhere near being out of the woods" (Washington Post, 4/5).

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