No Pun Intended: Obesity Problem Gets Bigger (CNN)

Almost 40% of adults, 19% of kids affected
by MedPage Today Staff October 13, 2017

The national obesity epidemic touches more Americans than ever and shows no signs of letting up, CNN reported.
The latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed that 39.6% of U.S. adults met the definition of obese, as did 19% of children and teenagers, the highest rates ever reported. From 1999 to 2016, obesity prevalence increased by 30% in adults and by 33% in youths. Rates seem to have stabilized in children, but the ongoing epidemiologic surgery in adults has no end in sight.
Obesity rates rose despite a national effort — HealthyPeople 2020 — to increase awareness and efforts to control the problem and prevent the multiple associated health problems. The efforts fall far short of what’s needed, according to Michael W. Long, ScD, of George Washington University in Washington, adding that “I have no expectation at all for Healthy 2020 [weight objectives] to be achieved.”