ASD & CDC Research Statistics On Obesity In The United States

In 1962, research statistics showed that the percentage of obesity in America’s population was
at 13%. By 1980 it has risen to 15% -- by 1994 to 23% -- and by the year 2000 the obesity
progression in America had reached an unprecedented 31%!
The U.S. Surgeon General report declared that obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths every
year. These overwhelming research statistics reveal an alarming obesity trend, the need for
diagnosis, and a call to action.
In the midst of an informational and research feeding frenzy on the obesity epidemic,
statistics are easy to come by. The most widely disseminated CDC research statistics on
American obesity tell us that 63% of adult Americans have a Body Mass Index (BMI) in excess of
25.0 and are therefore overweight; more than a quarter surpass 30.0, having been declared
obese. And perhaps the most riveting statistics concern obesity in kids: research shows that
childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past two decades.
Still, by focusing on the polite abstraction of Body Mass Index rather than actual bodyweight,
the CDC has hindered the war on the prevention of obesity in America. Indeed, CDC research
epidemiologists are faithful keepers of the public health record; but for reasons of technical
precision and political propriety, they have scrupulously avoided the publication of the most
crucial and powerful obesity statistics -- raw bodyweight averages for the American population.

The new IHRSA/ASD Obesity/Weight Control Report has published these graphic and visceral
images of a dangerously overweight population. The "real" research statistics on obesity reveal
that:
• 3.8 million Americans carry over 300 pounds
• With the average adult woman weighing in at a staggering 163!

• Perhaps the most shocking statistics underscoring obesity in the United States is that
400,000 Americans (mostly men) fall into a super-massive 400+ pound category
A current report on obesity and weight control research statistics is derived from the
Superstudy® of Sports Participation, conducted in January 2004 by American Sports Data,
Inc.