New Studies Bring More Information on Obesity Trends

New Studies Bring More Information on Obesity Trends is from our friends at the NASO, one study points out the effect of beverages on total caloric intake.

New Studies Bring More Information on Obesity Trends

(SILVER SPRING, MD, December 6, 2007) The November issue of the peerreviewed journal, Obesity, published today, adds more information to the question whether obesity rates among adults in the United States are leveling off or likely to increase. Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study comparing two recent studies which showed that while obesity was increasing, the change from 2002-2004 to 2005-2006 was not statistically significant. This was the first time the changes were not statistically significant.

Researchers Yun-Hsin Claire Wang, Graham A. Colditz and Karen M. Kuntz used earlier NHANES data to model rates of obesity from 1970 to 2000 across birth cohort, sex and race. According to their study,“Forecasting the Obesity Epidemic in the Aging U.S. Population,” they predict that in 2010, the prevalence of obesity will be 35% among white men, 35% among white women, 33% among black men and 55% among black women.

In addition to these rates being far from the Healthy People 2010 goal of 15%, it translates into 9.3 million more obese adults 20 to 74 years of age of who 8.3 million would be 50 years of age or older. The total number of obese Americans will be around 58.7 million, up from 49.4 million in 2000. The authors note,“These predictions signal an enormous challenge for the already-burdened healthcare system as the babyboom generation reaches retirement age.”

Other researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill looked at the effect of maternal obesity on the age-of-onset of obesity on their children. Offspring of obese parents are at risk for obesity because of shared genes and environment. While the adverse health effects of obesity on adolescents is known, less well understood is how maternal obesity affects the age of onset of obesity. Penny Gordon-Larsen, Linda S. Adair and Chirayath M. Suchindran used prospective, nationally representative longitudinal data in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in their study, “Maternal Obesity is Associated with Younger Age At Obesity Onset in U.S. Adolescent Offspring Followed into Adulthood: The National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

They found that having an obese mother was associated with earlier age-of-onset in offspring across all race/ethnic groups, particularly non-Hispanic blacks.

Younger ages of obesity onset and having an obese mother translate into higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight at young adulthood. A substantial portion, 20%, of offspring of obese mothers becomes obese before age 18 compared to 6.5% of those with a non-obese mother. It is thought that earlier age-of-onset may be more serious than obesity acquired later. For example, authors found that younger age of obesity onset and having an obese mother translated into higher BMI and weight at young adulthood. Steven Smith, a researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, said, “This study presents a very sobering picture of ever younger women becoming obese and having children who become obese at
younger ages. It is a major public health concern.”

Finally, Kiyah J. Duffey and Barry M. Popkin in “Shifts in Patterns and Consumption of Beverages between 1965 and 2002,” look at overall trends in the consumption of beverages in the United States. They found that, from 1965 to 2002, total daily caloric intake from beverages increased from 236 calories to 458 calories. This occurred during a period of increase in total caloric consumption. In 1965, beverages accounted for roughly 12% of total calories, rising to 21% in 2002. In 1965, just 17% of the population consumed more than 25% of their total daily calories from beverages. This rose to 30% in 2002

Beverages with the largest change in calorie consumption were soda, alcohol, whole fat milk, fruit drinks, low-fat milk and fruit juice. The authors conclude, “For the average American, beverages represent a significant sourceof excess calories providing, for the most part, little added nutritional benefit above what would be obtained by consuming whole foods.” They note that the critical issue is that we do not reduce food intake when we consume caloric beverages so these beverage calories represent a gain of total calories to our diet and have been shown to contribute to weight gain and obesity.

The Obesity Society is the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. The Obesity Society is
committed to encouraging research on the causes, treatment, and prevention of obesity as well as to
keeping the scientific community and public informed of new advances in the field. For more information,
please visit www.naaso.org.

Special thanks to Rhesia Pittman at rpittman@naaso.org for providing this information.