CDC Data Says Number Of Severely Obese People Highest In Last Few Years

Nidhi Sharma - All Headline News Staff Writer

Washington D.C. (AHN) - A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that there has been a sudden increase in the proportion of extremely obese Americans, whose body mass index is 40 or more.

Recent data by CDC says that extremely overweight people have increased by 50 percent from 2000 to 2005, twice as fast as the increase in moderate obesity. Also during the same time, the proportion of overweight people (BMI of 30 or more) increased by 24 percent, and the proportion of those with a BMI of 50 or more increased by 75 percent.

In the past 20 years, this has been the highest percentage increase ever to have occurred in the heaviest weight groups.

According to experts, a body mass index, or BMI, is a ratio of weight to height and those men who weigh 300 pounds at a height of 5 feet 10 inches are considered morbidly obese. However a severely obese woman is described as the one who weighs 250 pounds at a height of 5 feet 4 inches.

Experts have expressed their concern over the sudden increase of people whose BMI are higher than normal despite increased public awareness on the risks of obesity and the increased use of drastic weight loss strategies.

CDC data also added that nearly three percent of Americans are severely obese and health officials are worried over the health costs for severely obese people that are expected to be double that of normal weight people. In comparison, health costs for moderately obese people are expected to be 25 percent more.

People who are very obese are at increased risks for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and many other diseases. The total economic costs of obesity in the nation is pegged at more than $100 billion annually.