Obesity in US
8/24/2005 1:38:24 PM
We're one fat nation! Hooray for our prosperity!
This article is based on data collected by state departments of health and the graphic below is from said article.
(graphic courtesy of NY Times)
I'm not a big fan of statistics (actually of the REPORTS that are generated by statistical sampling) in general because of how easily that data can be manipulated (and how misleading data can be by specious sampling in skewed populations).
However, in this case I think that the results are very misleading because of the definitions involved. The results below is the percentage of the population that is OBESE, not overweight. Obesity is defined as having a BMI of over 30. Right now, my BMI is 31.1, so by definition I am obese (and I'm looking forward to dropping down to just being "overweight" here in the next few weeks).
I think that if the purpose of this study is to shed light on the health of the nation, we should be looking at the percentage that is OVERWEIGHT as well.
I'm actually quite baffled that the author of the Times article didn't take the article a step further. I found the following data on the CDC website.
The numbers are fucking frightening! Basically, 65% of the population is overweight or obese.
It's getting worse too...what year did Super Sized combos come out again?
Percentage of Adults Who Are Obese,* by State
(* Body mass index greater than or equal to 30, or ~ 30 pounds overweight for 5'4" person. Source: CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.)
If the samples aren't skewed too badly, in the 25 years the data above represents, the number of overweight individuals in the US has increase from 47% of the population to 65% of the population (remember also that our base population has increased about 32% over that time as well). Using data from the Census Bureau, we've added 85 MILLION overweight people to the buffet lines.
That's a lot of fries.
- 8/24/2005 3:33:43 PM
Yeah, we are pretty fat. I think most of it has to do with lack of physical activity. The foods we eat are bad but up until a few years ago potato was considered a vegetable. Growing up, my mom and dad ate mac and cheese with full fat milk. Basically it comes down to conveniences. We don't want to actually WALK up to the ATM machine so we build a drive-thru. I guess being fat is the price we pay for convenience. However, I do believe that it is up to the parents to teach their kids to make healthy food choices. Temptation is everywhere. If kids do not have enough will power to not stuff their fat little faces with french fries and pizza at lunch time, how is that kid going to learn how to say no to booze, drugs and whores? It is not McDonald's fault we are fat. Just like it isn't the tobacco industry's fault I have yellow nails.