What percentage of obese people are morbidly obese?

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Clarification of Question by researchondemand-ga on 05 Jun 2003 15:43 PDT

What percentage of the U.S. population is morbidly obese?

Hello  researchondemand-ga,

Thank you for your question.



The term morbid obesity refers to patients who are 50 to 100%, or 100
lbs. above their ideal body weight. Alternatively, a BMI value greater
than 39 may be used to diagnose morbid obesity.

Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003102.htm


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From the American Obesity Association:


What percentage of the U.S. population is morbidly obese?


According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,  4.7% of the U.S.
population is morbidly obese.


“Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60
million obese, and 9 million severely obese.”

(..)
 
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement tool used to determine excess
body weight. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 or more, obesity is
30 or more, and severe obesity is 40 or more.”

(..)


“Currently, 64.5 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, are
overweight and 30.5 percent are obese. Severe obesity prevalence is
now 4.7 percent, up from 2.9 percent reported in the 1988 – 1994”


Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal
et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and
Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

You may view the prevalence tables by gender and by year here:

American Obesity Association.
http://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_US.shtml


What percentage of obese people are morbidly obese?

Given that 60 million people are obese and 9 million severely obese,
that would 15% of obese people are morbidly obese.


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Search Criteria:
U.S. Obesity statistics
U.S. prevalence “morbid obesity"


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Best regards,
Bobbie7-ga

Another great answer from bobbie7!