Posted on January 11, 2012

Slightly Fewer Americans Obese in 2011

Elizabeth Mendes, Gallup, January 10, 2012

Slightly fewer American adults were obese in 2011 (26.1%) than in 2010 (26.6%) and 2009 (26.5%). This decline was largely offset by a slight increase in the percentage of Americans reporting a normal weight — increasing to 36.1% last year from 35.4% in 2010 — while the percentage overweight, but not obese, showed less change.

Gallup has tracked Americans’ weight status since 2008. Over this period, the total percentage overweight or obese rose from 62.2% in 2008 to 63.1% in 2009. It has since declined slightly each year to 62.9% in 2010 and to 62.1% in 2011.

The 2011 data encompass more than 300,000 surveys of American adults. {snip}

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The percentage of Americans who were obese in all major demographic and socio-economic groups either declined slightly or stayed the same in 2011 compared with 2010. Blacks, low-income Americans, and those aged 45 to 64 were still the most likely to be obese in 2011, as they have been in past years, with more than 3 in 10 in each group weighing enough to be considered obese. {snip}

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