Promoting Health is not the business of this industry
The argument that young vulnerable girls are being impacted negatively by too much comparing of themselves with the models of Vogue and Glamour resulting in eating disorders is not supported by data.

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health claims that one in 200 American women suffer from anorexia, as opposed to the American Heart Association's statistic of 39.4 million women suffering from obesity. So that's half a percent against 34 percent.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and and Digestive Kidney Disease over 66% of adults are overweight or obese.

The British NHS survey of Disordered Eating noted 620 hospital treatments for anorexia or bulimia (with some patients registered twice or more) for 2005 to 2006 as opposed to 17,458 for the same period for obesity.

The CDC data and statistics indicates that 17% of children and adolescents alone are not just overweight but obese.

Higher income and higher education are correlated with lower obesity rates and these are precisely the women who can afford these fashions and thus they are the true targets of the advertisers who use models to promote their clothing lines.

3,791
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Adult Obesity Facts

Obesity is common, serious and costly

  • More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. [Read data brief Adobe PDF file [PDF-528Kb]]
  • Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. [Read guidelinesExternal Web Site Icon]
  • In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [Read summaryExternal Web Site Icon]

Obesity affects some groups more than others

  • Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (49.5%) compared with Mexican Americans (40.4%), all Hispanics (39.1%) and non-Hispanic whites (34.3%) [See JAMA. 2012;307(5):491-497. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.39].

Obesity and socioeconomic status

[Read data brief Adobe PDF file [PDF-1.07Mb]]
  • Among non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American men, those with higher incomes are more likely to be obese than those with low income.
  • Higher income women are less likely to be obese than low-income women.
  • There is no significant relationship between obesity and education among men. Among women, however, there is a trend—those with college degrees are less likely to be obese compared with less educated women.
  • Between 1988–1994 and 2007–2008 the prevalence of obesity increased in adults at all income and education levels.

New baseline established in 2011 for state Obesity rates

  • Changes to the CDC’s BRFSS and to exclusion criteria result in a new baseline for estimated state adult obesity prevalence starting with the 2011 data.  Because of these changes, estimates of obesity prevalence from 2011 forward cannot be compared to estimates from previous years.
  • Shifts in estimates from previous years may be the results of the new methods, rather than measurable changes in the percentages.  The direction and magnitude of changes in each state varies. These variations may depend on the characteristics of the population.
  • State prevalence of obesity remained high across the country in 2011.

Obesity prevalence in 2011 varies across states and regions

  • By state, obesity prevalence ranged from 20.7% in Colorado to 34.9% in Mississippi in 2011. No state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. 39 states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states had a prevalence of 30% or more: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.
  • The South had the highest prevalence of obesity (29.5%), followed by the Midwest (29.0%), the Northeast (25.3%) and the West (24.3%).

Prevalence of Self-Reported Obesity Among U.S. Aduts BRFSS, 2011

 

State Prevalence Confidence Interval
Alabama 32.0 (30.5, 33.5)
Alaska 27.4 (25.3, 29.7)
Arizona 24.7 (22.7, 26.9)
Arkansas 30.9 (28.8, 33.1)
California 23.8 (22.9, 24.7)
Colorado 20.7 (19.7, 21.8)
Connecticut 24.5 (23.0, 26.0)
Delaware 28.8 (26.9, 30.7)
District of Columbia 23.7 (21.9, 25.7)
Florida 26.6 (25.4, 27.9)
Georgia 28.0 (26.6, 29.4)
Hawaii 21.8 (20.4, 23.4)
Idaho 27.0 (25.3, 28.9)
Illinois 27.1 (25.4, 28.9)
Indiana 30.8 (29.5, 32.3)
Iowa 29.0 (27.6, 30.3)
Kansas 29.6 (28.7, 30.4)
Kentucky 30.4 (28.9, 31.9)
Louisiana 33.4 (32.0, 34.9)
Maine 27.8 (26.8, 28.9)
Maryland 28.3 (26.9, 29.7)
Massachusetts 22.7 (21.8, 23.7)
Michigan 31.3 (30.0, 32.6)
Minnesota 25.7 (24.6, 26.8)
Mississippi 34.9 (33.5, 36.3)
Missouri 30.3 (28.6, 32.0)
Montana 24.6 (23.3, 26.0)
Nebraska 28.4 (27.6, 29.2)
Nevada 24.5 (22.5, 26.6)
New Hampshire 26.2 (24.7, 27.7)
New Jersey 23.7 (22.7, 24.8)
New Mexico 26.3 (25.1, 27.6)
New York 24.5 (23.2, 25.9)
North Carolina 29.1 (27.7, 30.6)
North Dakota 27.8 (26.3, 29.4)
Ohio 29.6 (28.3, 31.0)
Oklahoma 31.1 (29.7, 32.5)
Oregon 26.7 (25.2, 28.3)
Pennsylvania 28.6 (27.3, 29.8)
Rhode Island 25.4 (23.9, 27.0)
South Carolina 30.8 (29.6, 32.1)
South Dakota 28.1 (26.3, 30.1)
Tennessee 29.2 (26.8, 31.7)
Texas 30.4 (29.1, 31.8)
Utah 24.4 (23.4, 25.5)
Vermont 25.4 (24.1, 26.8)
Virginia 29.2 (27.5, 30.9)
Washington 26.5 (25.3, 27.7)
West Virginia 32.4 (30.9, 34.0)
Wisconsin 27.7 (25.8, 29.7)
Wyoming 25.0 (23.5, 26.6)

The History of State Obesity Prevalence

  • There was a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States from 1990 through 2010.
  • State prevalence prior to 2011 is provided for historical information only.  Historical rates should not be compared to 2011 state obesity prevalence due to changes in survey methods.
  • No state met the nation's Healthy People 2010External Web Site Icon goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%.  Rather, in 2010, there were 12 states with an obesity prevalence of 30%. In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30% or more. [Read article]
  • The animated map below shows the history of United States obesity prevalence from 1985 through 2010.

 

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults
<previous next> play stop Obesity map. For data, see PowerPoint or PDF linked above.

2010 State Obesity Rates
State % State % State % State %
Alabama 32.2 Illinois 28.2 Montana 23.0 Rhode Island 25.5
Alaska 24.5 Indiana 29.6 Nebraska 26.9 South Carolina 31.5
Arizona 24.3 Iowa 28.4 Nevada 22.4 South Dakota 27.3
Arkansas 30.1 Kansas 29.4 New Hampshire 25.0 Tennessee 30.8
California 24.0 Kentucky 31.3 New Jersey 23.8 Texas 31.0
Colorado 21.0 Louisiana 31.0 New Mexico 25.1 Utah 22.5
Connecticut 22.5 Maine 26.8 New York 23.9 Vermont 23.2
Delaware 28.0 Maryland 27.1 North Carolina 27.8 Virginia 26.0
District of Columbia 22.2 Massachusetts 23.0 North Dakota 27.2 Washington 25.5
Florida 26.6 Michigan 30.9 Ohio 29.2 West Virginia 32.5
Georgia 29.6 Minnesota 24.8 Oklahoma 30.4 Wisconsin 26.3
Hawaii 22.7 Mississippi 34.0 Oregon 26.8 Wyoming 25.1
Idaho 26.5 Missouri 30.5 Pennsylvania 28.6  

 

 

 
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Download the New Baseline Map

The new baseline for state adult obesity rates is depicted in a PowerPoint slide presentation format Microsoft PowerPoint file. (7 slides total, PPT-521Kb)

This is also available as a text-only Acrobat file. Adobe PDF file [PDF-668Kb] 

Changed Methods, New Baseline

Like all public health surveillance systems, BRFSS must occasionally change its methods to adapt to the changing world and to maintain validity.  The changes to the BRFSS affect obesity prevalence estimates, and mean that data collected in 2010 and before can’t be compared to the 2011 estimates. Learn more about the changes to the BRFSS.

Download the Historical Maps

The history of the increase in state obesity prevalence is depicted in a PowerPoint slide presentation format Microsoft PowerPoint file. (31 slides total, PPT-3Mb). Estimates of obesity prevalence from 2011 forward cannot be compared to estimates from previous years.

This is also available as a text-only Acrobat file Adobe PDF file [PDF-472k].

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