This country is getting fatter yearly. As George Carlin bitterly charged in the late 1990s, the baby boomers have become alarmingly fat, and since this is a very large part of the US population it has made the numbers go up dramatically. Here’s the key passage from the report:
The 25.6% prevalence of obesity among respondents overall in the 2007 BRFSS survey represents an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the 23.9% prevalence in 2005. In 2000, the prevalence was 19.8%, and in 1995 the prevalence was 15.3% (4). State and national data indicating that obesity prevalence has continued to increase during much of the past two decades (4–7) underscore the public health challenge presented by obesity. Of further concern are the disparities in prevalence of obesity, particularly among racial/ethnic populations and by education level. These disparities might reflect differences in knowledge and behavior related to diet and physical activity. They also might reflect differences in environmental supports for these behaviors, such as access to places for physical activity (e.g., local parks or recreation facilities) or access to healthier food options (e.g., selection at local groceries).
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