Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S., but the proportion of those with severe obesity — especially women — has climbed since a decade ago, according to new government research.
The U.S. obesity rate is about 40%, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. Nearly 1 in 10 of those surveyed reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report severe obesity.
The overall obesity rate appeared to tick down vs. the 2017-2020 survey, but the change wasn’t considered statistically significant; the numbers are small enough that there’s mathematical chance they didn’t truly decline.
That means it’s too soon to know whether new treatments for obesity, including blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, can help ease the epidemic of the chronic disease linked to a host of health problems, according to Dr. Samuel Emmerich, the CDC public health officer who led the latest study.
“We simply can’t see down to that detailed level to prescription medication use and compare that to changes in obesity prevalence,” Emmerich said. “Hopefully that is something we can see in the future.”
Most telling though, the results that show that the overall obesity rate in the U.S. has not changed significantly in a decade, even as the rate of severe obesity climbed from nearly 8% in the 2013-2014 survey to nearly 10% in the most recent one. Before that, obesity had increased rapidly in the U.S. since the 1990s, federal surveys showed.
Measures of obesity and severe obesity are determined according to body mass index, a calculation based on height and weight. People with a BMI of 30 are considered to have obesity; those with a BMI of 40 or higher have severe obesity. BMI is regarded as a flawed tool but remains widely used by doctors to screen for obesity.
“Seeing increases in severe obesity is even more alarming because that’s the level of obesity that’s most highly associated with some of the highest levels of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and lower quality of life,” said Solveig Cunningham, an Emory University global health professor who specializes in obesity.
Cunningham, who was not involved in the new study, said it’s not clear why rates of severe obesity are going up, or why they were higher among women. Factors could include the effects of hormones, the impact of childbearing or other causes that require further study, she said.
The new study also found that obesity rates varied by education. Almost 32% of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported having obesity, compared with about 45% of those with some college or a high school diploma or less.
The new report follows the release earlier this month of data from U.S. states and territories that showed that in 2023, the rate of obesity ranged widely by place, from a high of more than 41% of adults in West Virginia to a low of less than 24% of adults in Washington, D.C. Rates were highest in the Midwest and the South.
All U.S. states and territories posted obesity rates higher than 20%. In 23 states, more than 1 in 3 adults had obesity, the data showed. Before 2013, no state had a rate that high, said Dr. Alyson Goodman, who leads a CDC team focused on population health.
Color-coded U.S. maps tracking the change have gradually shifted from green and yellow, the hues associated with lower obesity rates, to orange and dark red, linked to higher prevalence.
“Sometimes, when you look at all that red, it’s really discouraging,” Goodman said.
But, she added, recent emphasis on understanding obesity as a metabolic disease and new interventions, such as the new class of weight-loss drugs, gives her hope.
The key is preventing obesity in the first place, starting in early childhood, Cunningham said. Even when people develop obesity, preventing additional weight gain should be the goal.
“It’s really hard to get obesity to reverse at the individual level and at the population level,” Cunningham said. “I guess it’s not surprising that we’re not seeing downward shifts in the prevalence of obesity.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - This file photo shows a closeup of a beam scale in New York, April 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
FILE - A subject's waist is measured during an obesity prevention study in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
CHESTER-LE-STREET, England (AP) — England captain Harry Brook struck his first one-day international century before his team clinched a 46-run win by the DLS method to keep alive the series against Australia on Tuesday.
Chasing 305 to win the third ODI, England was 254-4 — with Brook unbeaten on 110 — when heavy rain arrived in the day-nighter at Chester-le-Street. The teams didn’t get back on the field and England was well ahead of the run-rate.
Australia, which had cruised to dominant wins at Southampton and Leeds in this five-match series, saw its lead trimmed to 2-1 and its 14-match winning run in ODIs come to an end. During that streak, the team won the Cricket World Cup in India last year.
Coming to the crease with England in trouble on 11-2, Brook took on Australia’s seam attack by hitting 13 fours and two sixes in a 94-ball knock to easily surpass his previous ODI-best score of 80.
“I’m relieved, for sure. It’s just nice to see some rewards,” said Brook, who gained his first win as stand-in skipper for the injured Jos Buttler. “I’m just glad I managed to play the way I wanted to. It’s nice to get that first hundred on the board and hopefully there’s plenty more to come.
“I feel like I’ve been a little bit stop-start this summer. I’ve had a lot of starts — 30s and 40s — and then not managed to convert, which is frustrating. To do that today, I feel like I’m back in a good place."
The series continues on Friday with the fourth ODI at Lord’s.
Playing without explosive opener Travis Head (rested) and star spinner Adam Zampa (ill), Australia was put into bat and needed a strong finish — mainly thanks to Alex Carey’s unbeaten 77 and No. 8 batter Aaron Hardie’s 44 off 26 — to post 304-7 off its 50 overs.
Steve Smith hit a patient 60 off 82 balls, after the tourists’ innings was slowed by losing Cameron Green (42) and Marnus Labuschagne (0) in space of five balls just past the halfway mark.
It looked a tough chase for a youthful England team that had been outclassed so far this series and things started badly when Mitchell Starc dismissed Phil Salt (for an eight-ball duck) and Ben Duckett (8) in the same over — Australia’s third.
Brook embraced the pressure of the occasion and went on the attack pretty much from the start of his innings.
His third-wicket stand of 156 with Will Jacks (84 off 82 balls) swung the momentum England’s way and the team maintained it when the big-hitting Liam Livingstone came in at No. 6 and immediately smashed two sixes.
Brook used the uppercut to great effect to deal with some short-pitched bowling from the Australians and hit a straight drive for four to get to 99. Off the next ball, he opened the face and edged for another four to reach his century, prompting him to remove his helmet and look to the sky.
Brook’s second fifty came off just 33 deliveries.
England’s push for victory was then held up by the rain that arrived in the 38th over. It got heavier and heavier, with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern formula showing that the hosts were well in front of the run-rate.
Brook made some interesting comments after the series opener in Nottingham, reflecting on some loose dismissals by saying: “If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, then who cares?”
He said his words had been misunderstood.
“I think people took that a little bit the wrong way. You’ve got to go out and play fearlessly and almost have that ‘who cares?’ attitude. But that’s not a ‘who cares if we lose?’ attitude,” Brook said.
“We all want to win, but you don’t want to go out and have that fear of getting out."
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Australia's Alex Carey batts during the third one day international cricket match between England and Australia in County Durham, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Australia's Glenn Maxwell, centre left, celebrates with teammates after catching out England's Ben Duckett during the third day of international match at the Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
England's Jofra Archer, left, celebrates taking the wicket of Australia's Steven Smith during the third one day international cricket match between England and Australia in County Durham, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
England's Harry Brook celebrates 100 runs during the third day international match at the Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
England's Harry Brook celebrates 100 runs during the third day international match at the Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
