Almost 40 percent of middle-age U.S. adults obese

ATLANTA, Oct. 18 (UPI) — More than one-third of U.S. adults were obese in 2011-12, slightly down from 2009-10, health officials say.

Study authors Cynthia Ogden, Margaret Carroll and Brian Kit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and Katherine Flegal is with NCHS office of the director said the prevalence of obesity among men was 33.5 percent in 2011-12, compared with 35.5 percent in 2009-10.

Obesity prevalence among women was 36.1 percent in 2011-12 and 35.8 percent in 2009-10.

The study found the prevalence of obesity was higher among middle-age adults, at 39.5 percent, compared with 30.3 percent among adults ages 20-39, and 35.4 percent of adults age 65 and older.

The study authors used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-12.

The study found the prevalence of obesity from 2011-12 among non-Hispanic blacks was 47.8 percent. It was 42.5 percent among Hispanics, 32.6 percent among non-Hispanic white adults and 10.8 percent among non-Hispanic Asian adults.