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Epidemiology of Obesity in Adults: Latest Trends

  • Obesity Treatment (CM Apovian, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

An increasing trend in obesity prevalence since the early 1980s has posed a significant population health burden across the globe. We conducted a systematic review for studies using measured anthropometry to examine trends in obesity in the USA published from 2012 to 2018 and for systematic reviews to document trends in obesity across the globe published from 2014 to 2018.

Recent Findings

For the USA, the only nationally representative data source capturing trends in obesity in this period was the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which uses repeated cross-sectional data to document national trends in obesity in the USA. For global trends, the only systematic reviews of obesity across the globe were the Global Burden of Disease Obesity study and the Non-communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration study. In general, the population distribution of body mass index (BMI) in the USA has shifted towards the upper end of its distribution over the past three decades. The global distribution has similarly increased, albeit with large regional differences.

Summary

US and global studies suggest an increasing trend in obesity since the 1980s, and there is a dearth of nationally representative longitudinal studies using measured anthropometry to capture trends in adult obesity in the USA for the same individuals over time. Greater efforts are needed to identify factors contributing to the continued increases in obesity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 123 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA

    Yosuke Inoue & Penny Gordon-Larsen

  2. Department of Population Science, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08903, USA

    Bo Qin

  3. Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Jennifer Poti & Penny Gordon-Larsen

  4. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Rebeccah Sokol

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  1. Yosuke Inoue
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  2. Bo Qin
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  3. Jennifer Poti
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Correspondence to Penny Gordon-Larsen.

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Conflict of Interest

Yosuke Inoue, Bo Qin, Jennifer Poti and Rebeccah Sokol declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Penny Gordon-Larsen is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Inoue, Y., Qin, B., Poti, J. et al. Epidemiology of Obesity in Adults: Latest Trends. Curr Obes Rep 7, 276–288 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0317-8

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