Tue, Jul-22-08, 06:17
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Registered Member
Posts: 93
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Plan: VLC
Stats: 220/190/175
BF:
Progress: 67%
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CDC Report: State-Specific Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults
From this week's edition of the U.S. Center for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:
State-Specific Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults --- United States, 2007
July 18, 2008 / 57(28);765-768
Obesity is associated with reduced quality of life, development of serious chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, increased medical care costs, and premature death (1,2). A Healthy People 2010 objective is to reduce to 15% the proportion of adults who are obese (3). In 2005, no state met this target, and (based on self-reported height and weight) 23.9% of adults in the United States were obese (4). To update 2005 estimates of the prevalence of obesity in adults, CDC analyzed data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. The results of that analysis indicated that 25.6% of respondents overall in 2007 were obese; the prevalence of obesity among adults remained above 15% in all states and was above 30% in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Enhanced collaborative efforts among national, state, and community groups are needed to establish, evaluate, and sustain effective programs and policies to reduce the prevalence of obesity in the United States.
BRFSS is an ongoing, state-based, random-digit--dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population aged >18 years. Survey data are used to monitor progress in achieving health objectives at the state level and in selected metropolitan statistical areas.* Data are weighted to the respondents' probabilities of being selected and to the age-, race-, and sex-specific populations from each state's annually adjusted census. In the 2007 BRFSS survey, Council of American Survey and Research Organizations (CASRO) response rates† among states ranged from 26.9% to 65.4% (median: 50.6%), and cooperation rates§ ranged from 49.6% to 84.6% (median: 72.1%).
Body mass index (BMI) (weight [kg] / height [m]2) was calculated from self-reported weight and height at the time of the survey. Obesity was defined as a BMI >30.0. (1). To maintain consistency with previous analyses (4,5), respondents with self-reported weight >500 pounds or height >7 feet were excluded.
In the 2007 BRFSS survey, 25.6% of respondents overall were obese. Obesity prevalence was 26.4% for men and 24.8% for women (Table). By age group, obesity prevalence ranged from 19.1% for men and women aged 18--29 years to 31.7% and 30.2%, respectively, for men and women aged 50--59 years. By race/ethnicity and sex, obesity prevalence was highest for non-Hispanic black women (39.0%) followed by non-Hispanic black men (32.1%).
By education level, for men, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (22.1%) and highest among those with some college (29.5%) and a high school diploma (29.1%). For women, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (17.9%) and highest among those with less than a high school diploma (32.6%).
By region, the prevalence of obesity was higher in the South (27.3%) and Midwest (26.5%) and lower in the Northeast (24.4%) and West (23.1%) (Table). State-specific obesity prevalence ranged from 18.7% to 32.0% and was <20% in only one state: Colorado (18.7%) (Figure). Obesity prevalence was >30% in three states: Alabama (30.3%), Mississippi (32.0%), and Tennessee (30.1%). No state met the Healthy People 2010 target of 15%, and 30 states had obesity prevalence >25%.
Although U.S. Government publications are in the public domain, I have refrained from posting the whole report out of consideration for members of the Low-Carber forums.
The rest of the report can be accessed (along with references, table and map) at the link provided at the top of my post.
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