Obesity Rates

James Hill, the director of Human Nutrition of Colorado University, had estimated that there would be 38% of US population who are obese and strained US economy from health care system in year 2008.  According to statistics, it has been shown that Americans gain two pounds per year.  This alarming report has been brought to the attention of scientists around the nation, and an effort to find a cure for this epidemic has begun.

Researchers said that slim people can extend their lifespan for seven years, whereas overweight people can shorten their lifespan by three years.  To stop the weight gain, people must burn 100 calories per day by exercise or eat 100 calories less per day to slow down the weight gain.

Studies done several years ago indicated that 66% of African-American women are overweight and 37% of them are obese.  For Mexican-Americans, 66% of women are overweight and 33% of them are considered obese.  The obesity rate in Caucasian women is the lowest among the three groups - 49% of women overweight and 24% of them obese.

As a whole, obesity in the U.S. is the highest, which represents close to 31% of the population.  Mexican is the second highest which accounts for 24% of their population.  Slovakia, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, and Luxembourg have obesity rates ranging from 19% to 22.5%.  Czech Republic, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Germany, and Portugal have a lower rate, ranging from 12.8% to 14.8%.  Asian and southeast Asian countries have the lowest obesity rate, which is under 3.2%.