According to the latest data, the average body mass index (BMI) was 28.7 for men and women. BMI is a rough estimate of a person's body fat. The higher the number, the more overweight or obese a person is. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is overweight in an adult, and 30 or above is considered obese for an adult, according to the CDC. This means the average American is overweight, but not obese.
However, the rate of obesity was nearly 36 percent for both adult men and adult women in 2009 to 2010. In general, this rate has remained stable since 1999, according to the study.
Several groups did see small, but statistically significant increases in the rate of obesity over the 12-year study period. They included non-Hispanic black women, and Mexican-American women and men, according to the study.
The second study compared the most recent obesity figures (2009-2010) in children and teens from NHANES to obesity trends from six other surveys dating back to 1999 to 2000. The most recent data included 4,111 American children.
In 2009 to 2010, nearly 17 percent of children and adolescents were obese and almost 32 percent were overweight or obese, according to the study. Obesity rates from 2007 to 2008 and 2009 to 2010 stayed the same. The researchers did find an increase in the prevalence of obesity in male children and teens when they compared the most recent figures to 1999 to 2000.
In infants, overweight is measured through weight-for-recumbent length. Almost 10 percent of infants had a high weight-for-recumbent length measurement. But, this rate was the same in 2009 to 2010 as it was in 1999 to 2000, except for one group. Mexican-Americans in
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