There isn’t one clear reason why, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American obesity rate has stopped climbing.
The CDC recently reported that 68 percent of Americans are obese or overweight, which isn’t exactly good news. However, compared to statistics from 1999, the current overall obesity rate among men, women and children has leveled off – not improving, but not rising.
Dr. William H. Dietz, director of the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, said that this fact isn’t a cause for celebration, but for modest optimism.
At the same time, no one can explain exactly why the obesity rate has leveled off. Dietz speculated that increased health awareness may be one factor – but the genuine cause hasn’t been measured. Weight loss surgery, with its rising status as an obesity eliminator, is surely playing a part.
Then again, there are probably many more negative factors that keep the American obesity rate as high as it still is. And there is a theory that the obesity rate has halted because it’s at a plateau and can’t really get any higher. Dr. Cynthia Ogden, who works with the CDC, said this is an interesting idea, but would require more research to prove.
