Americans Are Growing In Obesity, Especially Latinos
By Voxxi
As a nation, we’re getting steadily heavier.
The average American has gained about one pound each year since the mid-1990s.
Our tendency to super-size every meal is gaining on us. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.
The average American man weighed 194.7 pounds in 2006 — up from 181 pounds in 1994. The average American woman weighed 165 pounds — up from 154.
For Hispanics, the statistics are not any better. According to the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
- In 2010, Hispanic Americans were 1.2 times as likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic Whites.
- Among Mexican American women, 78 percent are overweight or obese, as compared to only 60.3 percent of the non-Hispanic White women.
- In 2007 – 2008 Mexican American children were 1.4 times more likely to be overweight as Non- Hispanic White Children.
- From 2007-2010, Mexican American women were 40% more likely to be overweight, as compared to Non-Hispanic Whites.
- In Texas, where more than 55 percent of the state’s population is expected to be Hispanic by 2040, 75 percent of Latinos were overweight or obese as of 2009.
- In Colorado, nearly 41 percent of Hispanic adults are overweight and 25 percent are obese.
Read related: Soda companies race for zero-calorie sweetener, no aftertaste
Obesity is especially worrisome among younger Latinos and more Hispanic children are reportedly overweight or obese than non-Hispanic children, and as a result are having a higher rate of diabetes.
According to the Leadership for Healthy Communities organization, 38.2 percent of Hispanic children ages up to age 18 were overweight in May 2010, compared with 31.7 percent of all children.
