New research shows obesity rates are on the rise in most states, suggesting that diet and exercise initiatives may be falling short in curbing the country's weight problem.
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In fact, the report's authors estimate that if the the percentage of adults who are either overweight or obese continues to climb at the current rate, 75 percent of Americans will be overweight or obese by 2015.
"With each and every year, we see more and more evidence that the obesity epidemic continues to gain speed and force," Marks said.
The new report comes just two weeks after a study by Dr. Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore suggested that if current overweight and obesity trends continue, 86 percent of Americans could be overweight or obese by the year 2030 -- and by 2048, virtually all Americans will be overweight or obese.
Obesity rates among children younger than 5 have doubled over the last two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The prevalence of childhood obesity has prompted pediatricians to encourage parents to start monitoring their children's weight. Conditions like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which were once seen as only affecting adults, have reached a much younger age group.
The new numbers suggest the continuation of a steady trend toward obesity that has been seen over the past several decades. In 1980, the report notes, the national average of obese adults was a mere 15 percent. Today, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention, about a third of adults are obese.
With the increase in obesity has come a spike in the diseases associated with excess weight. According to the report, rates of type 2 diabetes -- a disease typically associated with obesity -- grew in 26 states last year.
Levi said the spike in such diseases carries a financial burden as well.
"Obesity is not just about health; it has a real impact on our country's economy as well," he said.
Though estimates of exactly how much this added weight impacts the economy vary, CDC figures suggest the additional medical expenses brought about by overweight and obese Americans accounted for 9.1 percent of total U.S. medical expenditures in 1998 -- a figure that may have topped $78.5 billion.
In the decades to come, this figure could balloon to nearly $1 trillion every year, according the study published by Wang.
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