CDC: Prevalence of U.S. adult obesity at one-third, but remains unchanged since 2009

NEW YORK — The overall prevalence of obesity among adults remained unchanged between 2009 and 2012, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers at the agency looked at obesity prevalence in the two-year intervals of 2009-2010 and 2011-2012, finding that the prevalence among men was 33.5% in 2011-2012, compared with 35.5% in 2009-2010. Among women, the prevalence in 2011-2012 was 36.1%, compared with 35.8% in 2009-2010. More than 78 million adults were obese in 2011-2012, as in 2009-2010, the majority of obese adults being non-Hispanic whites. The study was part of the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The overall prevalence of obesity did not differ between men and women, but among African-Americans, 56.6% of women were obese, compared with 37.1% of men. Obesity was also higher among African-Americans, Hispanics and whites than among Asian-Americans.