How common and costly is overweight and obesity?

Of a world population of 7.8 billion people in 2020, about 800 million of us are
undernourished. But worldwide, even more of us are overweight or obese. That
is to say, we are overfat—we have excessive adiposity. Over the past 40 years, the
proportion of both children and adults who are overweight or obese has increased
rapidly. By 2014, about 72% of men and 64% of women in the U.S. had become
either overweight or obese and these conditions have become a costly and pervasive
epidemic. American adults average about 25 lbs. heavier than they were in
the 1960s. In a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, the age-adjusted
prevalence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, in
2017–2018 was 42.4% among men and women.

The values for severe obesity with a BMI of 40 or greater were 6.9% for men and
11.5% for women. A 5-foot 4-inch tall woman weighing 174 pounds is obese and
weighing 232 pounds would be severely obese with a BMI of 40. A 5-foot 9-inch
man weighing 203 pounds is obese and weighing 270 pounds would be severely
obese. The proportion of the U.S. adult population in an obese weight range has
more than doubled since 1980 when only 15% of the U.S. adult population was
obese.

The predicted trend of obesity in the U.S. is a worsening of the epidemic, with nearly
one in two adults (48.9%) becoming obese (BMI 30 or greater) by 2030. Nearly
one in four (24.2%) of adults are predicted to have “severe” obesity with a BMI
of 35 or greater by 2030. One estimate is that the annual global cost of obesity is
$2 trillion, and estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), placed the 2008 annual U.S. medical costs of obesity at $147 billion, 10%
of all medical spending. These medical costs were estimated to have risen to
$200 billion in 2010,and could reach $400 billion by the year 2020. Obesity and
diabetes cost the U.S. health-care system $1 billion a day.

This blog presents opinions and ideas and is intended to provide helpful general information. I am not engaged in rendering advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures and suggestions in that are presented are not in any way a substitute for the advice and care of the reader’s own physician or other medical professional based on the reader’s own individual conditions, symptoms or concerns. If the reader needs personal medical, health, dietary, exercise or other assistance or advice the reader should consult a physician and/or other qualified health professionals. The author specifically disclaims all responsibility for any injury, damage or loss that the reader may incur as a direct or indirect consequence of following any directions or suggestions given in this blog or participating in any programs described in this blog or in the book, The Building Blocks of Health––How to Optimize Your Health with a Lifestyle Checklist (available in print or downloaded at Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble and elsewhere). Copyright 2021 by J. Joseph Speidel.