The severely obese are the quickest growing overweight group in the United States according to a new study by researchers to be published in the journal Public Health.
Severe obesity is defined as being 100lbs overweight, and according to the researchers in 2005, the proportion of severely obese Americans was 50% higher than it was in 200.
The proportion of people at the high end of the weight scale continues to increase at a brisk rate despite increased public attention on the risks of obesity and the increased use of drastic weight loss strategies such as bariatric surgery.
Roland Sturm said,
The explosion in the use of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery has made no noticeable dent in the trend of morbid obesity.
The research team reported that the amount of Americans with a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30 rose by 24% and that the amount of people with a BMI greater than 40 rose by 50 percent.
Furthermore, the amount of stomach surgeries related to obesity, rose to an estimated 200000 in 2006, from 13000 in 1998.
The researchers estimated that 30% of Americans have a BMI over 25% which is putting a lot of people at an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancer and stroke.
Via : YAHOO!NEWS.com
