Obesity Continues to Rise in U.S.

Even though this report may seem a little dated, it is the most recent from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as it takes a while for them to compile and analyze all the data.

I can tell you that the numbers here are a little conservative.  Americans continue to get fatter.

Also, it’s important to note that the numbers reflect a broad cross section of America and not just people in our “fitness universe.”  This is important because they typically use BMI as an indicator —  which has no relevance in “our world.”   Nonetheless, it may be appropriate for the purposes of their reporting the condition of the American public at large.

Here’s a FREE DOWNLOAD of the FULL REPORT:  CLICK HERE…

Obesity is common, serious and costly

• More than one-third (or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. [Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)]

• Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.

• The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.
  

Obesity affects some groups more than others

• Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (47.8%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (32.6%), and non-Hispanic Asians (10.8%)

• Obesity is higher among middle age adults, 40-59 years old (39.5%) than among younger adults, age 20-39 (30.3%) or adults over 60 or above (35.4%) adults.

Obesity and socioeconomic status

• Among non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American men, those with higher incomes are more likely to be obese than those with low income.

• Higher income women are less likely to be obese than low-income women.

• There is no significant relationship between obesity and education among men. Among women, however, there is a trend—those with college degrees are less likely to be obese compared with less educated women.

Obesity prevalence in 2012 varies across states and regions

• By state, obesity prevalence ranged from 20.5% in Colorado to 34.7% in Louisiana in 2012. No state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Nine states and the District of Columbia had prevalence between 20-25%. Thirteen states (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia) had a prevalence equal to or greater than 30%.

• Higher prevalence of adult obesity was found in the Midwest (29.5%) and the South (29.4%). Lower prevalence was observed in the Northeast (25.3%) and the West (25.1%).

Here’s a FREE DOWNLOAD of the FULL REPORT:  CLICK HERE…

What’s this mean for you….

So, this is why our company continues to develop products (tools) for you to use in order to help educate and motivate people.  In particular the WMU-101 project is our forward direction.  Also, we are in process of making the MAP SYSTEM more mobile friendly (more on that in an upcoming post).

The big take-away, is that HEALTH EDUCATION is going to become one of the most lucrative components of the fitness business.  And, it is something that you can add-on to your existing business.… although, as it has proven over and over again…  it could become the “tail that wags the dog!”