THURSDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) -- At least 25 percent of the adult population in 32 states is now obese, and national prevalence of obesity has risen from 25.6 percent in 2007 to 26.1 percent in 2008, according to a July 8 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The data was derived from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System phone survey of over 400,000 American adults who were asked to provide their height and weight.
The data showed than none of the 50 states or the District of Columbia were on target to achieve the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing the prevalence of obesity to 15 percent or less, and that none had seen a significant decline in obesity rates compared to the previous year. In Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, the prevalence of adult obesity was at least 30 percent, the survey showed.
"The latest Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data show that the obesity problem in this country is getting worse," said Liping Pan, M.D., a CDC epidemiologist and the lead author of the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System obesity map analysis, in a statement. "If this trend continues we will likely see increases in health care costs for obesity related diseases."
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