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Obese Americans now outnumber those who are merely overweight, study says

 
Published June 23, 2015

: More obese adults Than overweight

Americans have reached a weighty milestone: Adults who are obese now outnumber those who are merely overweight, according to a new report in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

A tally by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis estimated that 67.6 million Americans over age 25 were obese as of 2012, and an additional 65.2 million were overweight.

Their count was based on data collected between 2007 and 2012 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an ongoing study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The NHANES data included information on height and weight, which are used to calculate a person's body mass index. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal. Someone with a BMI in the 25-to-29.9 range is considered overweight, and a BMI over 30 designates a person as obese.

Altogether, two out every three women in the United States were above a normal weight, and three out of four men exceeded a normal weight.